Gastric adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and neuroendocrine tumors
ATLANTA Medicine: Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are frequent complaints in the general population, triggering a staggering number of primary care and emergency room visits each year in the United States. Benign causes will underlie the vast majority of cases, but rarely, gastric neoplasms such as gastric adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors or gastric neuroendocrine tumors will be discovered on subsequent diagnostic tests.
Here, we review the surgical oncologist's perspective on salient clinical and therapeutic aspects of these uncommon but important clinical entities.
Gastric Adenocarcinoma
The incidence of gastric cancer is rising in the West, particularly in patients under 50 years of age. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Risk factors include environmental agents such as chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori, dietary consumption of salt and nitrosamines, obesity, smoking and alcohol. Underlying pathology such as atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia may also contribute to patients with intestinal-type histology.
Read the full article as it appeared in ATLANTA Medicine.
