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Stomach cancer is less common than bowel cancer but can be more difficult to detect and the overall survival rates are less good. The symptoms are varied but include vomiting or unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain or indigestion. Patients are also sometimes diagnosed because they develop iron deficiency anaemia. If these symptoms are present then a patient usually has a gastroscopy to allow direct visualisation and biopsy of the stomach lining. This common type of endoscopic test is provided quickly in this situation yet done carefully and with patient comfort a high priority. Thankfully most patients with these symptoms do not have stomach cancer and there is often an alternative common cause such as gastritis, duodenal ulceration or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. In the unfortunate event of diagnosing stomach cancer we work as part of multi-disciplinary team providing high quality cancer care in conjunction with our radiologists, surgeons and oncologists to provide the best outcome.
