Stomach Cancer

Treatment

Stomach cancer treatment success depends on several factors, such as age, stage, and response to treatment. Some of the treatment options for stomach cancer:

• Surgery: Stomach cancer surgery is generally considered the first-line treatment for small stomach cancers. Surgical management of stomach cancer depends on the severity of the stomach cancer. The surgeon removes small cancers from the lining of the stomach. The surgery is performed by inserting the tube into the throat and guiding it to the stomach. The surgeon then inserts the cutting tools into the tube to remove the cancer. The surgeon may also remove the part of the stomach invaded by cancer, along with some of the surrounding healthy tissues, in a surgery called subtotal gastrectomy. Patients may also undergo total gastrectomy, which involves the removal of the entire stomach and the surrounding healthy tissues. The surgeon may also remove lymph nodes from the abdomen to test for cancer. It helps the surgeon to determine if cancer has spread outside the stomach.
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy can be delivered through two methods. It includes systemic chemotherapy and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. During systemic chemotherapy, the drug is delivered intravenously or orally that travels throughout the body. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) involves delivering the drugs into the peritoneal cavity after heating them to make them more effective.
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy may be used along with surgery or chemotherapy. It may not be the preferred treatment method in patients with stage 1 stomach cancer. In stages 2 and 3 of stomach cancer, the radiation oncologist may use radiation therapy before surgery to shrink the tumor (known as neoadjuvant therapy). Radiation therapy may also be used after surgery to kill the remaining cancerous cells that cannot be removed through surgery (adjuvant therapy).
• Targeted therapy: Through targeted therapy, specific proteins and genes essential for cancer cells' growth and survival are targeted. The cancer cells are analyzed to determine if targeted therapy would be effective in a particular patient.
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is generally used in stage 4 stomach cancer or cancer recurrence. Immunotherapy works by stimulating the immune cells to find and kill cancer cells. The immunotherapy drugs interfere with the processes that help prevent the cancer cells from immune attack.