Most people with stomach cancer get chemotherapy. Chemotherapy
uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
It may be given before or after surgery. After surgery, radiation therapy may
be given along with chemotherapy.
The drugs that treat stomach cancer are usually given through a vein
(intravenous). You'll probably receive a combination of drugs.
You may receive chemotherapy in an outpatient part of the hospital, at the
doctor's office, or at home. Some people need to stay in the hospital during
treatment.
The side effects depend mainly on which drugs are given and how much.
Chemotherapy kills fast-growing cancer cells, but the drugs can also harm normal
cells that divide rapidly:
Blood cells: When drugs lower the levels of healthy blood cells, you're more
likely to get infections, bruise or bleed easily, and feel very weak and tired.
Your health care team will check for low levels of blood cells. If your levels
are low, your health care team may stop the chemotherapy for a while or reduce
the dose of the drug. There are also medicines that can help your body make new
blood cells.
Cells in hair roots: Chemotherapy may cause hair loss. If you lose
your hair, it will grow back after treatment, but the color and texture may be
changed.
Cells that line the digestive tract: Chemotherapy can cause a poor
appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, or mouth and lip sores. Your health
care team can give you medicines and suggest other ways to help with these
problems. They usually go away when treatment ends.
Some drugs used for stomach
cancer also may cause a skin rash, hearing loss, and tingling or numbness in
your hands and feet. Your health care team can suggest ways to control many of
these side effects.
You may want to ask your doctor these questions before having chemotherapy:
Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Anemia is the condition of having less than the normal number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. The oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is, therefore, decreased.
Lymph nodes help the body's immune system fight infections. Causes of swollen lymph nodes (glands) may include infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasites). Symptoms of swollen lymph nodes vary greatly. They can sometimes be tender, painful or disfiguring. The treatment of swollen lymph nodes depends upon the cause.
Nausea is an uneasiness of the stomach that often precedes vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are symptoms of many conditions. The causes of vomiting differ according to age, and treatment depends upon the cause of nausea and vomiting.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a bacterium that causes chronic inflammation (gastritis) of the inner lining of the stomach in humans. This bacteria also is the most common cause of ulcers worldwide.
A peptic ulcer is an ulcer in the lining of the stomach, duodenum, or esophagus. Ulcer formation is related to Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the stomach, use of anti-inflammatory medications, and cigarette smoking.
Ascites, the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity is most commonly caused by cirrhosis of the liver. Some of the other causes of ascites include portal hypertension, congestive heart failure, blood clots, and pancreatitis. The most common symptoms include increased abdominal girth and size, abdominal bloating, and abdominal pain. Treatment depends on the cause of ascites.
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.
Pernicious anemia is a blood disorder in which the body does not make enough red blood cells due to a lack of vitamin B12 in the blood. Pernicious anemia can develop from a lack of a protein that helps the body absorb vitamin B12, not getting enough B12 in the diet, and certain intestinal conditions that interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 such as Crohn's disease, celiac sprue, or ulcerative colitis. There is no cure for pernicious anemia, thus treatment is life-long.
Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining. Causes of gastritis include drinking too much alcohol, medications such as NSAIDs, ibuprofen, aspirin, H. pylori infection, severe infections, burns, anemia, and autoimmune disorders. Gastritis is diagnosed with endoscopy, blood tests, or stool tests. Treatment depends upon the cause of gastritis.
Smoking is an addiction. More than 430,000 deaths occur each year in the U.S. from smoking related illnesses. Secondhand smoke or "passive smoke" also harm family members, coworkers, and others around smokers. There are a number of techniques available to assist people who want to quit smoking.
Though it's difficult to say why some people develop cancer while others don't, research shows that certain risk factors increase a person's odds of developing cancer. These risk factors include growing older, family history of cancer, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, and exposure to sunlight, ionizing radiation, certain chemicals, and some viruses and bacteria.
Digestion is the complex process of turning food you eat into the energy you need to survive. The digestive process also involves creating waste to be eliminated, and is made of a series of muscles that coordinate the movement of food.
Cancer RSS
Healthy Living Tips
This site complies with the