Stomach Cancer

Stomach Cancer begins when cancer cells form in the inner lining of your stomach. These cells can grow into a tumor. Also called gastric cancer, the disease usually grows slowly over many years.

What Causes Stomach Cancer?

Scientists don’t know exactly what makes cancer cells start growing in the stomach. But they do know a few things that can raise your risk for the disease. One of them is infection with a common bacteria, H. pylori, which causes ulcers. Inflammation in your gut called gastritis, long-lasting anemia, and growths in your stomach called polyps also can make you more likely to get cancer.

Other things that seem to play a role in raising the risk include:
•    Smoking
•    Being overweight or obese
•    A diet high in smoked, pickled, or salty foods
•    Stomach surgery for an ulcer
•    Type-A blood
•    Epstein-Barr virus infection
•    Certain genes
•    Working in coal, metal, timber, or rubber industries
•    Exposure to asbestos

Symptoms

Early on, Stomach Cancer may cause:

•    Indigestion
•    Feeling bloated after you eat a meal
•    Heartburn
•    Slight nausea
•    Loss of appetite

Just having indigestion or heartburn after a meal doesn’t mean you have cancer. But if you feel these symptoms a lot, talk to your doctor. He can see if you have other risk factors and test you to look for any problems.

As stomach tumors grow, you may have more serious symptoms, such as:

•    Stomach pain
•    Blood in your stool
•    Vomiting
•    Weight loss for no reason
•    Trouble swallowing
•    Yellowish eyes or skin
•    Swelling in your stomach
•    Constipation or diarrhea
•    Weakness or feeling tired
•    Heartburn

Getting a Diagnosis

•    Your doctor will give you a physical exam. He'll also ask about your medical history to see if you have any risk factors for Stomach Cancer or any family members who’ve had it. Then, he might give you some tests, including:
•    Blood tests to look for signs of cancer in your body.
•    Upper endoscopy. Your doctor will put a thin, flexible tube with a small camera down your throat to look into your stomach.
•    Upper GI series test. You’ll drink a chalky liquid with a substance called barium. The fluid coats your stomach and makes it show up more clearly on X-rays.
•    CT scan. This is a powerful X-ray that makes detailed pictures of the inside of your body.
•    Biopsy. Your doctor takes a small piece of tissue from your stomach to look at under a microscope for signs of cancer cells. He might do this during an endoscopy.

Treatment

Many treatments can fight Stomach Cancer. The one you and your doctor choose will depend on how long you’ve had the disease or how much it has spread in your body called the stage of your cancer.

• Surgery: Your doctor might remove part of your stomach or other tissues nearby that have cancer cells. Surgery gets rid of the tumor and stops cancer from spreading to other parts of your body. If your disease is in a more advanced stage, your doctor might need to remove all of your stomachs. The same surgery for the stomach can be done by Minimal Invasive Technique (Key whole surgery). This has revolutionized the treatment of stomach cancer and does not need large incisions and patients are discharged early with morbidity and almost zero mortality. Some tumors can keep food from moving in and out of your stomach. In that case, you might have surgery to put in a stent, a device that keeps the pathways open.
• Chemotherapy: Drugs kill your cancer cells or keep them from growing. You can take them as pills or through an IV at a clinic. Chemo usually takes several weeks. The drugs can cause side effects, but your doctor can help you find ways to feel better during treatment.
• Radiation: High-energy waves or particles can kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Your doctor may use an X-ray or other machines to beam radiation at the spot where your tumor is.
• Chemoradiation: Your doctor might use this mix of chemotherapy and radiation to shrink your tumor before surgery.
• Targeted drugs: These newer drugs are different because they fight only cancer cells. Other treatments, like chemo and radiation, can kill healthy cells along with diseased ones. As a result, targeted therapies have fewer side effects than these other treatments.

How Can I Prevent Stomach Cancer?

• Treat stomach infections: If you have ulcers from an H. pylori infection, get treatment. Antibiotics can kill the bacteria, and other drugs will heal the sores in the lining of your stomach to cut your risk of cancer.
• Eat healthily: Get more fresh fruits and vegetables on your plate every day. They’re high in fiber and in some vitamins that can lower your cancer risk. Avoid very salty, pickled, cured, or smoked foods like hot dogs, processed lunch meats, or smoked cheeses. Keep your weight at a healthy level, too. Being overweight or obese can also raise your risk of the disease.
• Don’t smoke Your Stomach Cancer risk doubles if you use tobacco.
• Watch aspirin or NSAID use: If you take a daily aspirin to prevent heart problems or NSAID drugs for arthritis, talk to your doctor about how these drugs might affect your stomach.

KEY POINTS

• Scientists don’t know exactly what makes cancer cells start growing in the stomach. But they do know a few things that can raise your risk for the disease.
• Eat healthily. Get more fresh fruits and vegetables on your plate every day. They’re high in fiber and in some vitamins that can lower your cancer risk.
• Don’t smoke. Your Stomach Cancerrisk doubles if you use tobacco.

Colon Cancer

Colon Cancer also called colorectal cancer is cancer of the lining of the colon and or the rectum. The cells in the colon grow abnormally, creating growthes called polyps.Some polyps start out as known cancerous if not removed. Best way to prevent colon cancer is to eat balanced diet.

Colon Symptoms

1. Change in bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea)

2. Unusual stomoch or gas pains

3. Very narrow stool

4. A feeling that the bowel has not emptied completely after passing stool

5. Unexplained Weight loss

6. Fatigue

Detection Test

Since colon cancer often has no symptoms, routine screening this type of cancer is very important Screening test.

1. Fecal occult blood test.

2. Flexible sigmoidoscopy

3. Colonoscopy

Treatments Available

1.Surgery colostomy & Keywhole surgery

2. Hipec( a new treatment of in case of recurrent)

3. Rediation Therapy

4. Chemotherapy

5. Biological Therapy

Advantages of Keywhole Surgery

Quicker & Short hospital stay (in some cases as little as two days)

Experience lesser pain from your wound

Get back to our normal activity quicker

Have smaller scars

Have a reduced risk of developing other problems (including hernias and adhesions)

 

Pancreatic Cancer

Q. What are Pancreatic Cancer and its types?

Pancreatic Cancer begins in the tissues of your pancreas — an organ in your abdomen that lies horizontally behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate the metabolism of sugars.
Pancreatic Cancer typically spreads rapidly and is seldom detected in its early stages, which is a major reason why it's a leading cause of cancer death. Signs and symptoms may not appear until pancreatic cancer is quite advanced and complete surgical removal isn't possible.

Risk Factors :
Factors that may increase your risk of Pancreatic Cancer include:
•    African-American race
•    Excess body weight
•    Chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
•    Diabetes
•    The family history of genetic syndromes that can increase cancer risk, including a BRCA2 gene mutation, Lynch syndrome and familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM)
•    Personal or family history of Pancreatic Cancer
•    Smoking

Q. What are Pancreatic Cancer symptoms and signs?

• Jaundice,
• Dark Urine,
• Ichy skin,
• Light-colored stools,
• Pain in the abdomen or the back,
• Poor appetite and weight loss,
• Digestive problems (pale and/or greasy stools, nausea, and vomiting),
• Blood clots,
• Enlarged gallbladder.

Q. How is the diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer made?

Most screening tests consist of CT scans, ultrasounds, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), or endoscopic ultrasounds. A physical examination (usually normal), blood tests, X-rays, and an ultrasound. If pancreatic cancer is present, the likelihood of an ultrasound revealing an abnormality in the pancreas is about 75%. If a problem is identified or suspected, frequently a computed tomography (CT) scan is performed as the next step in the evaluation. A pancreatic mass and the suspicion of pancreatic cancer is then raised and a biopsy is performed to yield a diagnosis.

TREATMENT

Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer depends on the stage and location of cancer as well as on your age, overall health, and personal preferences. The first goal of pancreatic cancer treatment is to eliminate cancer, when possible. When that isn't an option, the focus may be on preventing pancreatic cancer from growing or causing more harm. When pancreatic cancer is advanced and treatments aren't likely to offer a benefit, your doctor will help to relieve symptoms and make you as comfortable as possible.

1.  Surgery

• Surgery may be an option if your Pancreatic Cancer is confined to the pancreas. Operations used in people with pancreatic cancer include:

• Surgery for tumors in the pancreatic head. If your Pancreatic Cancer is located in the head of the pancreas, you may consider an operation called a Whipple procedure (pancreatoduodenectomy).

• The Whipple procedure involves removing the head of your pancreas, as well as a portion of your small intestine (duodenum), your gallbladder and part of your bile duct. Part of your stomach may be removed as well. Your surgeon reconnects the remaining parts of your pancreas, stomach and intestines to allow you to digest food.
• Whipple surgery carries a risk of infection and bleeding. After the surgery, some people experience nausea and vomiting that can occur if the stomach has difficulty emptying (delayed gastric emptying).
• Expect a long recovery after a Whipple procedure. You'll spend several days in the hospital and then recover for several weeks at home.
• Surgery for tumors in the pancreatic tail and body. Surgery to remove the tail of the pancreas or the tail and a small portion of the body is called distal pancreatectomy. Your surgeon may also remove your spleen. 

2.  Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams, such as X-rays, to destroy cancer cells. You may receive radiation treatments before or after cancer surgery, often in combination with chemotherapy. Or, your doctor may recommend a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments when your cancer can't be treated surgically.

3.  Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to help kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be injected into a vein or taken orally. You may receive only one chemotherapy drug, or you may receive a combination of chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy can also be combined with radiation therapy (chemoradiation). Chemoradiation is typically used to treat cancer that has spread beyond the pancreas, but only to nearby organs and not to distant regions of the body. This combination may also be used after surgery to reduce the risk that pancreatic cancer may recur. In people with advanced pancreatic cancer, chemotherapy may be used alone or it may be combined with targeted drug therapy.

4. Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack specific abnormalities within cancer cells. The targeted drug erlotinib (Tarceva) blocks chemicals that signal cancer cells to grow and divide. Erlotinib is usually combined with chemotherapy for use in people with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Gallbladder Cancer is cancer that begins in the gallbladder. Gallbladder cancer is uncommon. When Gallbladder Cancer is discovered at its earliest stages, the chance for a cure is very good. But most Gallbladder Cancer are discovered at a late stage, when the prognosis is often very poor. Gallbladder Cancer is difficult to diagnose because it often causes no specific signs or symptoms. Also, the relatively hidden nature of the gallbladder makes it easier for Gallbladder Cancer to grow without being detected.

Symptoms

Gallbladder Cancer signs and symptoms may include:
•    Abdominal pain, particularly in the upper right portion of the abdomen
•    Abdominal bloating
•    Itchiness
•    Fever
•    Loss of appetite
•    Losing weight without trying
•    Nausea
•    Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)

Causes

It's not clear what causes Gallbladder Cancer .
Doctors know that Gallbladder Cancer forms when healthy gallbladder cells develop changes (mutations) in their DNA. These mutations cause cells to grow out of control and to continue living when other cells would normally die. The accumulating cells form a tumor that can grow beyond the gallbladder and spread to other areas of the body. Most gallbladder cancer begins in the glandular cells that line the inner surface of the gallbladder. Gallbladder cancer that begins in this type of cell is called adenocarcinoma. This term refers to the way the cancer cells appear when examined under a microscope.

Risk factors

Factors that can increase the risk of Gallbladder Cancer include:
•    Your sex. Gallbladder cancer is more common in women.
•    Your age. Your risk of Gallbladder Cancer increases as you age.
•    Your weight. People who are obese are at higher risk for developing gallbladder cancer.
•    A history of gallstones. Gallbladder Cancer is most common in people who have had gallstones in the past. Still, gallbladder cancer is very rare in these people.
•    Other gallbladder diseases and conditions. Other gallbladder conditions that can increase the risk of gallbladder cancer include porcelain gallbladder, choledochal cyst and chronic gallbladder infection.

Diagnosing Gall bladder cancer

Tests and procedures used to diagnose Gallbladder Cancer include:
•    Physical exam and history:
•    Ultrasound exam
•    Blood tests. Blood tests to evaluate your liver function may help your doctor determine what's causing your signs and symptoms.
•    Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) assay: A test that measures the level of CEA in the blood. CEA is released into the bloodstream from both cancer cells and normal cells. When found in higher than normal amounts, it can be a sign of gallbladder cancer or other conditions.
•    CA 19-9 assay
•    Chest X-ray
•    MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
•    PET-CT
•    Laparoscopy

Treatment

1.    Surgery
Gallbladder Cancer may be treated with a cholecystectomy, surgery to remove the gallbladder and some of the tissues around it. Nearby lymph nodes may be removed. A laparoscope is sometimes used to guide gallbladder surgery. The laparoscope is attached to a video camera and inserted through an incision (port) in the abdomen. Surgical instruments are inserted through other ports to perform the surgery. Because there is a risk that gallbladder cancer cells may spread to these ports, tissue surrounding the port sites may also be removed.
If the cancer has spread and cannot be removed, the following types of palliative surgery may relieve symptoms:

    Surgical biliary bypass: If the tumor is blocking the small intestine and bile is building up in the gallbladder, a biliary bypass may be done. During this operation, the gallbladder or bile duct will be cut and sewn to the small intestine to create a new pathway around the blocked area.

    Endoscopic stent placement: If the tumor is blocking the bile duct, surgery may be done to put in a stent (a thin, flexible tube) to drain bile that has built up in the area. The stent may be placed through a catheter that drains to the outside of the body or the stent may go around the blocked area and drain the bile into the small intestine.
    Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage: A procedure done to drain bile when there is a blockage and endoscopic stent placement is not possible. An X-ray of the liver and bile ducts is done to locate the blockage. Images made by ultrasound are used to guide placement of a stent, which is left in the liver to drain bile into the small intestine or a collection bag outside the body. This procedure may be done to relieve jaundice before surgery.
2.    Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. There are two types of radiation therapy. External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the
3.    Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping the cells 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 spinal column, 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.

Key points

•    Gallbladder Cancer is cancer that begins in the gallbladder. Gallbladder Cancer is uncommon.
•    When Gallbladder Cancer is discovered at its earliest stages, the chance for a cure is very good. 
•    Gallbladder Cancer is difficult to diagnose because it often causes no specific signs or symptoms.

Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer is cancer that begins in the cells of your liver. Your liver is a football-sized organ that sits in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath your diaphragm and above your stomach.

What Causes Liver Cancer ?

Liver Cancer happens when liver cells develop changes (mutations) in their DNA. A cell's DNA is the material that provides instructions for every chemical process in your body. DNA mutations cause changes in these instructions. One result is that cells may begin to grow out of control and eventually form a tumor - a mass of cancerous cells. Sometimes the cause of Liver Cancer is known, such as with chronic hepatitis infections. But sometimes liver cancer happens in people with no underlying diseases and it's not clear what causes it.