Signal 1: Pain in the upper abdomen with persistent indigestion
Upper abdominal pain and persistent indigestion. Early stage gastric cancer patients often have no specific symptoms, and as the disease progresses, symptoms similar to gastritis and gastric ulcer may appear. For example, upper abdominal fullness and discomfort or hidden pain, especially obvious after eating; patients often experience loss of appetite, belching, acid reflux, nausea, vomiting, etc.
Signal 2: Rapid weight loss, anemia
Rapid weight loss and anemia. Stomach cancer will affect the absorption of food, and patients may experience rapid weight loss. At the same time, because of bleeding or affecting the absorption of vitamin B12, anemia may appear, which is manifested as fatigue, weakness, dizziness and pale face, etc.
Signal three: abdominal mass
When the tumor is large, sometimes a hard mass can be palpated in the upper abdomen, especially in the progressive gastric cancer located in the pyloric sinus or stomach body, sometimes a mass in the upper abdomen can be found; in female patients, a mass that can be pushed in the middle and lower abdomen may be ovarian metastasis (medically called Krukenberg’s tumor), which needs to be distinguished from ovarian cancer.
Signal 4: Abdominal distension and pain
Pain in the stomach and epigastric region is a common symptom. If the pain continues to worsen and radiates to the lower back, it indicates that the pancreas and abdominal plexus are invaded. Once gastric cancer is perforated, the symptoms of severe abdominal pain can appear.
Nausea and vomiting are due to obstruction or gastric dysfunction caused by the tumor. Cardia cancer can show progressive swallowing difficulty and food reflux, while pyloric obstruction caused by gastric sinus cancer can vomit out persistent food.
Signal 5: Bleeding stool or black stool
When tumor invades blood vessels, it can cause bleeding in the digestive tract. In case of small amount of bleeding, there is only positive fecal occult blood, but in case of larger amount of bleeding, there may be vomiting blood and black stool.
Gastric cancer often has no specific clinical symptoms in the early stage, and when it starts, it is similar to gastritis and gastric ulcer, so it is often overlooked, so when it is forced to go to the hospital for examination, the diagnosis is often already in the middle and late stage, and the opportunity for surgical cure is missed. Therefore, we hope that readers will be alert to the presence of uncomfortable symptoms and go to the hospital in time for investigation.
