gastric cancer
Meaning of gastric cancer: Gastric cancer arises in the stomach lining, often linked to chronic infection with a common stomach bacterium, and frequently causes only vague early symptoms.
Definition of gastric cancer
Gastric cancer, also called stomach cancer, is cancer that forms in the tissue lining the stomach. Most gastric cancers are adenocarcinomas, arising from the glandular cells that line the inner surface of the stomach and produce mucus and digestive substances.
Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that can persist in the stomach lining for years, is a well established factor associated with the development of gastric cancer, along with long standing inflammation of the stomach lining and certain dietary and genetic factors. Because early gastric cancer often produces vague symptoms, such as indigestion or mild discomfort that overlap considerably with common, benign digestive complaints, the disease is sometimes not identified until it has progressed further.
Gastric cancer is distinct from cancer of the esophagus, the tube connecting the throat to the stomach, even though tumors near the junction of the two organs can sometimes behave similarly and are evaluated using overlapping approaches.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Endoscopy with biopsy confirmed gastric cancer in the patient with persistent indigestion.
Good to know
Early gastric cancer often causes only vague digestive symptoms that overlap with common, benign conditions, which can delay recognition until the disease has progressed further.
Word origin
Where “gastric cancer” comes from
Formed from Greek gaster, meaning stomach; cancer comes from Latin cancer, meaning crab.