What are treatments for stomach cancer?
Different types of treatments are available for patients with gastric cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.
Seven types of standard treatment are used:
Surgery
Surgery is a common treatment for all stages of gastric cancer. The following types of surgery may be used:
- Subtotal gastrectomy: Removal of the part of the stomach that contains cancer, nearby lymph nodes, and parts of other tissues and organs near the tumor. The spleen may be removed. The spleen is an organ that makes lymphocytes, stores red blood cells and lymphocytes, filters the blood, and destroys old blood cells. The spleen is on the left side of the abdomen near the stomach.
- Total gastrectomy: Removal of the entire stomach, nearby lymph nodes, and parts of the esophagus, small intestine, and other tissues near the tumor. The spleen may be removed. The esophagus is connected to the small intestine so the patient can continue to eat and swallow.
If the tumor is blocking the stomach but cancer cannot be completely removed by standard surgery, the following procedures may be used:
- Endoluminal stent placement: A procedure to insert a stent (a thin, expandable tube) to keep a passage (such as arteries or the esophagus) open. For tumors blocking the passage into or out of the stomach, surgery may be done to place a stent from the esophagus to the stomach or from the stomach to the small intestine to allow the patient to eat normally.
- Endoluminal laser therapy: A procedure in which an endoscope (a thin, lighted tube) with a laser attached is inserted into the body. A laser is an intense beam of light that can be used as a knife.
- Gastrojejunostomy: Surgery to remove the part of the stomach with cancer that is blocking the opening into the small intestine. The stomach is connected to the jejunum (a part of the small intestine) to allow food and medicine to pass from the stomach into the small intestine.
Endoscopic mucosal resection
Endoscopic mucosal resection is a procedure that uses an endoscope to remove early-stage cancer and precancerous growths from the lining of the digestive tract without surgery. An endoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument with a light and a lens for viewing. It may also include tools to remove growths from the lining of the digestive tract.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen, the drugs mainly affect cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy). The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.
A type of regional chemotherapy being studied to treat gastric cancer is intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy. In IP chemotherapy, the anticancer drugs are carried directly into the peritoneal cavity (the space that contains the abdominal organs) through a thin tube.
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a treatment used during surgery that is being studied for gastric cancer. After the surgeon has removed as much tumor tissue as possible, warmed chemotherapy is sent directly into the peritoneal cavity.
See Drugs Approved for Stomach (Gastric) Cancer for more information.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing. External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the area of the body with cancer.
Chemoradiation
Chemoradiation therapy combines chemotherapy and radiation therapy to increase the effects of both. Chemoradiation given after surgery, to lower the risk that cancer will come back, is called adjuvant therapy. Chemoradiation given before surgery, to shrink the tumor (neoadjuvant therapy), is being studied.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells. Targeted therapies usually cause less harm to normal cells than chemotherapy or radiation therapy does. Monoclonal antibodies and multikinase inhibitors are types of targeted therapy used in the treatment of gastric cancer.
- Monoclonal antibodies: Monoclonal antibodies are immune system proteins made in the laboratory to treat many diseases, including cancer. As a cancer treatment, these antibodies can attach to a specific target on cancer cells or other cells that may help cancer cells grow. The antibodies can then kill the cancer cells, block their growth, or keep them from spreading. Monoclonal antibodies are given by infusion. They may be used alone or to carry drugs, toxins, or radioactive material directly to cancer cells.
There are different types of monoclonal antibody drugs:
- Trastuzumab blocks the effect of the growth factor protein HER2, which sends growth signals to gastric cancer cells.
- Ramucirumab blocks the effect of certain proteins, including vascular endothelial growth factors. This may help keep cancer cells from growing and may kill them. It may also prevent the growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow.
Trastuzumab and ramucirumab are used in the treatment of stage IV gastric cancer and gastric cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or has recurred.
- Multikinase inhibitors: These are small-molecule drugs that go through the cell membrane and work inside cancer cells to block multiple protein signals that cancer cells need to grow and divide. Some multikinase inhibitors also have angiogenesis inhibitor effects. Angiogenesis inhibitors stop the growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow.
There are different types of multikinase inhibitor drugs:
- Regorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor and angiogenesis inhibitor that blocks the effects of the multiple proteins inside tumor cells. Regorafenib is being studied in the treatment of stage IV gastric cancer and gastric cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or has recurred.
See Drugs Approved for Stomach (Gastric) Cancer for more information.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the patient's immune system to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or made in a laboratory are used to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against cancer. This cancer treatment is a type of biologic therapy.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a type of immunotherapy.
- Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: PD-1 is a protein on the surface of T cells that helps keep the body’s immune responses in check. PD-L1 is a protein found on some types of cancer cells. When PD-1 attaches to PD-L1, it stops the T cell from killing the cancer cell. PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors keep PD-1 and PD-L1 proteins from attaching. This allows the T cells to kill cancer cells. Pembrolizumab and nivolumab are types of PD-1 inhibitors.
See Drugs Approved for Stomach (Gastric) Cancer for more information.
New types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials.
Information about clinical trials is available from the NCI website.
Treatment for gastric cancer may cause side effects.
For information about side effects caused by treatment for cancer, see our Side Effects page.