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How does gastrointestinal cancer manifest? Oncological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and their symptoms

Nowadays, every person experiences fear when they hear the word “oncology”. Especially when it comes to stomach tumor damage. Stomach cancer is a serious, steadily progressing disease if left untreated, leading to severe complications and death.

According to WHO, stomach cancer ranks third after lung and skin cancer, and second in the structure of causes of death after lung cancer (9.7% for the entire planet and 13.5% for Russia). The incidence increases sharply in men over 60 years of age and in women over 50 years of age, and stomach cancer occurs equally often in men and women.

Causes

A combination of factors leads to the occurrence of cancer. When DNA mutations occur in the body, the damaged cells are removed by immune cells (natural killer or NK cells). If antitumor immunity fails to remove defective cells, they become susceptible to uncontrolled division.

An initial tumor node is formed, destroying the affected organ from the inside, which then grows into nearby tissues and spreads throughout the body in the form of metastases to distant organs. The same thing happens with stomach cancer. These processes at the cellular level take a long period of time, so the asymptomatic stage of the disease can last for years.

Provoking environmental factors:

radiation (ionizing radiation) - affects the cell nucleus with the DNA it contains, causing cell mutations
smoking, alcohol abuse- irritate the gastric mucosa
medications - painkillers, corticosteroid hormonal drugs, antibiotics, etc.
products - refined white flour, sugar, refined oil, excesses in spicy, fried, fatty foods, food additives, residues of agricultural fertilizers in greenhouse vegetables and fruits, etc. - cause damage to the gastric wall with a decrease in its protective properties.
associated diseases, that is, provoked by Helicobacter Pylori bacteria that live on the inner wall of the stomach, they come in several types, some also provoke chronic gastritis. can lead to stomach ulcers, which, in turn, can lead to malignancy.
unfavorable environmental conditions, smoke in cities with exhaust gases, industrial waste, an abundance of harmful chemicals in everyday life (cosmetics, low-quality furniture, household appliances, toys made from toxic materials) - reduce overall immunity and contribute to the accumulation of carcinogenic substances in the body.

Internal factors:

genetic predisposition— scientists have proven that most diseases are hereditary in nature and the predisposition to cancer is also
predisposing diseases- benign formations of the stomach (polyps, adenomas), which can transform into malignant ones, as well as deficiency of vitamin B12, which is involved in cell reproduction and is responsible for the “correct” division of the cell nucleus without mutations
age - after 50-60 years, the risk of developing cancer increases tenfold
metabolic disorders- hormonal, immune, as well as disturbances in vitamin metabolism.

Symptoms and manifestations of stomach cancer

Clinical symptoms of stomach cancer depend on the stage of the process.

O stage: carcinoma in situ, “cancer in situ” - there are no clinical manifestations, and the diagnosis in most cases is an incidental finding during a biopsy of the mucous membrane for other diseases.

Stage 1 stomach cancer: characterized by localization of the tumor in the mucous membrane without germination into the muscular layer of the stomach wall, as well as possible damage to 1 - 2 lymph nodes located along the organ (T1 N0 M0 or T1 N1 M0). Already at this stage, early symptoms of stomach cancer appear, which include:

unmotivated general weakness
fast fatiguability
lack of appetite
anemia (decreased hemoglobin, see)
pronounced weight loss
aversion to animal protein in food (meat or fish products, as well as to any one type of meat)
possible prolonged slight increase in temperature (see)
depressive emotional background

Stage 2: the tumor can either remain within the mucous membrane, but at the same time a larger number of lymph nodes are affected - 3 - 6, or grow into the muscular layer with damage to 1 - 2 lymph nodes (T1 N2 M0 or T2 N1 M0). The first symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract appear:

heartburn (see)
feeling of discomfort in the stomach
nausea ()
vomiting, which brings short-term relief
belching air
progressive weight loss
increased gas formation in the intestines ()
defecation disorders

These complaints are not permanent, and therefore patients do not attach due importance to their occurrence and hesitate to see a doctor.

Stage 3: characterized by tumor growth not only into the muscle layer, but also through the outer lining of the stomach with damage to nearby tissues and organs, as well as the presence of cancer in seven or more lymph nodes. There are no metastases (T2 -4 N1-3 M0).

the above complaints become pronounced,
pain in the epigastric region intensifies and becomes constant,
the patient practically cannot eat food, since it does not pass into the stomach,
with cancer of the cardiac, “initial” part of the stomach, dysphagic phenomena occur - frequent choking, regurgitation, the need to wash down solid food with water or take only liquid food,
with cancer of the pyloric, “exiting” part of the stomach, food is not digested and stagnates in the stomach for several days, a feeling of rapid satiety, constant fullness in the epigastrium, vomiting with stagnant contents, and belching with the smell of rotten eggs occur.

Stage 4 means complete germination of the stomach wall, destruction of neighboring organs, damage to a large number of lymph nodes (more than 15), metastasis to distant organs and lymph nodes - to the ovary in women, to the lymph nodes of the pararectal (around the rectum) fatty tissue, to the lymph node located in the fossa above the left collarbone.

symptoms become permanent
the patient is exhausted, unable to eat on his own, only through a tube
experiences excruciating constant pain, relieved by taking narcotic analgesics with a short-term effect
the body is poisoned from the inside by the products of metabolism and tumor decay, does not receive the required amount of nutrients from the outside, tumor cells capture nutrients from the patient’s blood, dystrophic changes occur in all organs and tissues of the body, and the person dies.

It is at stages 3 and 4 of stomach cancer - late stages - that 80% of patients consult a doctor when the diagnosis is no longer in doubt, which significantly worsens the prognosis of the disease.

How to identify stomach cancer?

In recent years, scientists and doctors around the world have been concerned about the problem of early diagnosis of this disease. For example, research is being conducted in the field of electrical impedance spectroscopy and photofluoroscopic screening, which may increase the percentage of patients with cancer detected in the early stages.

When a patient with suspected stomach cancer consults a doctor, he may be prescribed the following tests:

Treatment of stomach cancer

Scientists around the world have united in search of an effective cure for cancer. And there are some achievements, for example, in foreign oncology centers, so-called targeted therapy is used - this is the treatment of a cancer patient with drugs that “target” cancer cells. Such drugs include:

immunoglobulins- act like antibodies, recognizing foreign cells that are antigens, blocking them and “transferring” them to the immune cells of the body itself for destruction
enzyme inhibitors— penetrate into the cancer cell, disrupting its functions and leading to its death. The following drugs are used: alemtuzmab, panitumumab, bortesonib, etc.

In Russia, these techniques are still at the level of study and research, and malignant neoplasms of the stomach are treated with the following methods and their combination:

Surgical method of treatment

The operation is a radical method of treating cancer, since in the process part of the stomach or the entire organ is excised (gastric resection, subtotal or total gastrectomy). Nearby lymph nodes and/or organs that are also affected by the process are excised.

If a patient is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, when metastases affect other organs, and excision of the tumor and removal of the stomach are not possible due to the pronounced spread of the tumor, a gastrostomy is applied - an opening between the stomach and the anterior abdominal wall so that food enters the stomach at least Thus.

Chemotherapy

This is a method that involves introducing chemotherapy drugs into the patient’s body, which have a detrimental effect not only on tumor cells, but also on healthy cells (therefore, this method has many severe side effects - hair loss, constant nausea, vomiting, weight loss, hemorrhagic cystitis and many other). The drugs include antitumor antibiotics, cytostatics and cytotoxins (5 - fluorouracil, topotecan, lomustine, epirubicin, methotrexate and many others). Chemotherapy is carried out in courses that are repeated on the 30th day, and then every eight weeks. Chemotherapy is given both before and after gastric surgery.

Radiation therapy

This is the irradiation of the projection of the affected organ with small doses of x-ray radiation. In gastric oncology, targeted irradiation is used during surgery.

Symptomatic therapy

Painkillers, vitamins, drugs that eliminate nausea, vomiting, flatulence, normalize intestinal microflora, strengthen the immune system, etc. are prescribed.

Lifestyle for patients with gastric cancer

A patient undergoing tumor treatment must adhere to the following recommendations:

organize a routine - rest more, ensure adequate sleep, develop an acceptable work and rest schedule,
follow a diet - for the first three to six days (depending on the extent of the surgical intervention), it is forbidden to eat food, you can only drink water. In the future, it is allowed to take liquid, pureed food with a gradual expansion of the diet. Food is taken fractionally and often - 6 - 8 times a day in small portions. The following products are allowed: cereals, soups, lean meats and fish, fruits (which do not cause pronounced fermentation in the intestines), vegetables, dairy products, bread. Whole milk and sweets (chocolate, candies) are limited. Alcohol, smoking, coffee, spicy, fried, fatty, salty foods and other foods that irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa are excluded.
limit intense physical activity, especially after surgery,
walk more often and more in the fresh air,
try to get more positive emotions,
undergo sanatorium-resort treatment, but with the exception of physiotherapeutic procedures,
Regularly visit your doctor to carry out the necessary treatment and diagnostic measures.

Complications of stomach cancer

Bleeding from a tumor:

symptoms: sudden weakness, nausea, black tarry stools, vomiting “coffee grounds” or contents mixed with scarlet blood
diagnostics: FGEDS
treatment: endoscopic (cauterization of a bleeding vessel when it is detected) or surgical with laparotomic access (dissection of the abdominal wall).

Cicatricial stenosis of the pylorus - the pyloric part of the stomach at the point of its transition into the duodenum. Characterized by complete or partial obstruction of food from the stomach.

symptoms: weakness, constant nausea, rapid satiety, feeling of fullness in the epigastrium, belching with a rotten odor, repeated vomiting of stagnant contents, bringing relief
diagnostics: fluoroscopy of the stomach with ingestion of barium suspension and FEGDS
treatment: surgical

Disease prognosis

How long do people with this diagnosis live? To answer this question, it is necessary to remember that timely consultation with a doctor is the key to success in the treatment of gastric cancer. The prognosis in this situation is determined by five-year survival. Depending on the stage of stomach cancer at which you are diagnosed, survival rates vary significantly.

The first stage is the most favorable prognosis: 80 people out of a hundred survive, and 70% of patients achieve full recovery.
The second stage - the prognosis is less favorable, since only 56% of patients survive the first five years after diagnosis.
The third stage - the prognosis is unfavorable, since 38 out of a hundred people survive, the rest die from further spread of cancer and/or its complications.
Fourth stage survival rate is significantly reduced and is achieved in only 5% of cases of gastric cancer.

In conclusion, I would like to note that at the present stage of development of medicine, the diagnosis of “malignant neoplasm” in general, and “stomach cancer” in particular, is not a death sentence. The capabilities of domestic and foreign oncology allow for early diagnosis, mass screening (in Russia this is an annual examination using FEGDS) and adequate antitumor treatment, which will not only lead to an improvement in the quality of life of a cancer patient, but can also significantly prolong it.

It is important for the patient to remember that self-diagnosis and self-medication are fraught with a threat to life and health, since only a doctor during an in-person examination will make the right decision regarding the presence or absence of a tumor lesion of the stomach.

Content

A malignant tumor that originates from the mucosal epithelium is called gastric cancer. The disease is a common oncology, which over time spreads to the esophagus, liver and lungs. Every year, 800 thousand men and women die from digestive cancer in the world, so it is important to be able to recognize the first symptoms of the disease.

Common symptoms of stomach cancer in the early stages

Timely diagnosis allows cancer to be cured completely. However, early diagnosis in men and women is difficult due to the poor clinical picture. The disease is asymptomatic and disguises itself as gastric inflammatory processes. As a rule, oncology of the digestive organs is diagnosed in the later stages of the disease. Early signs of stomach cancer:

increased acidity, belching;
feeling of fullness in the stomach;
shortness of breath, feeling tired, bleeding;
increased blood clotting.

The main cause of cancer is considered to be poor diet, constant consumption of too hot foods, and alcoholic beverages. The environment plays a major role in the development of the disease. In industrial cities, the incidence rate is higher. Hypovitaminosis, smoking, ulcers or gastritis increases the risk of tumor development. Precancerous diseases include Barrett's syndrome and achalasia cardia. If the tumor affects the lower esophagus, then there is a high risk of complications from the cancer process spreading to the stomach.

Specific symptoms for stomach cancer

An oncological disease is diagnosed - the first symptoms of which are mild, mainly in men; women are less likely to suffer from such oncology. Depending on how intensively the tumor spreads, the stage of the disease is determined. When tumor cells are limited to damage to only the internal organ, stage zero is diagnosed. Specific symptoms are manifestations similar to other stomach diseases: vomiting, nausea, black loose stools.

The first signs of stage 1 stomach cancer are increased symptoms of heartburn, difficulty passing food, and rapid satiety. In the first stage, a person feels pain while eating and swallowing, so he constantly washes down solid food with water. The following manifestations indicate advanced oncology:

change in the size of the abdomen;
inability to swallow liquid food and drink water due to pain;
palpable abdominal tenderness;
pallor of mucous membranes and skin;
chronic weakness, fatigue;
enlarged lymph nodes above the collarbone and in the axillary region on the left side.

Secondary symptoms of stomach and esophageal cancer

With gastric oncology, the patient begins to feel constantly tired, and the level of work ability decreases. If the early symptoms of stomach cancer are mild, then the late stage is associated with a lack of appetite or even an aversion to food. Even from a small amount of food, the patient experiences stomach discomfort and heaviness; it is difficult for him to swallow. Because of this, a person suddenly loses weight, becomes depressed, and loses interest in his surroundings.

If the tumor affects the blood vessels, bleeding may occur at any time, during which the patient sometimes loses consciousness. At a later stage, regular and severe vomiting with clots of dark blood and black feces appears. When the tumor ruptures, peritonitis develops with high fever and severe pain. This situation requires immediate medical attention. Oncology most often affects middle-aged (35-45) and elderly people. The disease appears extremely rarely in children: one child in a million.

Diagnosis of cancer in the early stages

Diagnostics includes undergoing a set of procedures that will show the extent of the process and the stage of oncology. In the early stages of the pathology, the symptoms are mild, so the doctor should take a medical history. During a visual examination of the patient, the doctor pays attention to the following signs:

large palpable neoplasm;
liver enlargement;
fluid in the abdomen;
pale skin caused by anemia;
swollen lymph nodes;
the presence of a tumor node in the pelvis.

Laboratory methods:

endoscopy of the stomach and esophagus with biopsy;
cysto and histology of the obtained material;
Ultrasound of the gastrointestinal tract;
biopsy analysis for cancer status;
blood for tumor markers;
electrocardiogram.

How to detect cancer using additional procedures? Depending on the diagnostic indicators, the oncologist may prescribe an MRI of the pelvis, biopsy of metastases, endosonography and osteoscintigraphy. When a decision is made to treat a patient with surgery, Holter monitoring is used, the patient is sent for cardiac ultrasound and consultation with other specialists. The prognosis for treating the disease depends entirely on the number of cancer tumors that are localized on the mucous membrane and have varying degrees of differentiation.

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Content

Stomach cancer is a common cancer that affects men more often than women. As a malignant tumor develops, it can spread to the liver, lungs, esophagus and other organs. If treatment for stomach cancer is started in the first stages of its development, then there is a chance to completely get rid of this disease and save the patient’s life. What are the features, first signs and symptoms of this cancer?

Features of the manifestation of stomach cancer

Oncological disease, caused by the formation of a malignant tumor from cells of the gastric mucosa, ranks 4th among cancer diseases. Asians often suffer from it. A malignant tumor can develop in any part of the stomach. In the early stages, cancer of the digestive organ is very problematic to diagnose, because there is no clear picture of the disease. This cancer is classified by histological cell type, tumor growth and clinical stage.

Types of stomach cancer:

Squamous, arising from the degeneration of epithelial cells.
Signet ring cell, formed from goblet cells.
Glandular, which is the result of degeneration of glandular cells.
Undifferentiated, arising from immature cells.
Adenocarcinoma, formed from secretory cells of the mucosa. This type of oncology is diagnosed in 90% of cases.

With the diffuse type of cancer growth, there is no connection between tumor cells, which grows through the entire thickness of the wall and does not enter the stomach cavity. This behavior is typical for an undifferentiated type of cancer. With the intestinal type of growth, cells are connected to each other. In this case, the malignant tumor slowly grows inside the stomach. This is how glandular cancer, adenocarcinoma, behaves. According to clinical manifestations, this cancer is divided into 5 stages (0-4).

What are the first symptoms and signs of stomach cancer?

The first symptoms of stomach cancer are difficult to determine, so they are often mistaken for a manifestation of an ulcer or gastritis. Only an experienced doctor will be able to distinguish a malignant formation in this organ of the digestive system in the early stages of development. Treatment of stomach cancer at an early stage gives a high probability of getting rid of this disease. If there is a suspicion of oncology, then in order to accurately diagnose cancer, the patient may be prescribed an examination.

Diagnosis of cancer is carried out using fibrogastroduodenoscopy, MRI, ultrasound, and blood tests for tumor markers of the gastrointestinal tract. What are the signs of stomach cancer? Doctor L.I. Savitsky believed that the early stage of the disease can be determined by the special state of the body. He coined the new term “small sign syndrome in gastric cancer.”

Its presence in the body is characterized by constant weakness, fatigue, depression, weight loss, loss of appetite, and stomach discomfort. An experienced doctor will be able to prescribe effective treatment when identifying small signs of cancer. In the initial stages of the disease, the first symptoms of cancer are vague and often depend on its location in the stomach. Below we will consider the main first signs of this cancer.

Indigestion

Loss of appetite is a common sign of stomach cancer, which occurs in older and middle-aged people. Along with this symptom, patients may experience nausea and heaviness in the epigastric region. Such patients note that for the first time they noticed discomfort in the stomach after a heavy meal. Subsequently, they stopped enjoying food, so their appetite decreased. Often, patients in the early stages of tumor development complain of heaviness, heartburn, belching, and flatulence.

Discomfort in the chest

In the first stages of cancer, unpleasant, painful sensations appear in the chest area. These include: a feeling of fullness, pressure, heaviness, burning, mild temporary convulsive phenomena. These symptoms occur after eating a heavy, heavy, or difficult-to-digest meal. With the development of stomach cancer, chest discomfort intensifies and worries the patient even with moderate consumption of dietary foods. Patients at the initial stage of development of this cancer often complain to the doctor of chest pain radiating to the heart or shoulder blade area

Difficulty swallowing

If the malignancy is localized in the upper part of the stomach, it sometimes causes problems when swallowing food. This symptom cannot be ignored. In the first stages of cancer growth, the patient experiences only slight discomfort when eating food in the form of large, coarse pieces. However, as the tumor develops and increases in size, it becomes difficult to swallow soft, liquid-like food.

Nausea and vomiting

At the initial stage, stomach cancer often manifests itself in the form of discomfort after eating. Many patients noticed that after eating, nausea appeared, which did not go away for a long time after lunch. Another of the first symptoms of this cancer is vomiting that begins after eating or at other times of the day. In some patients it appears periodically, in others - once. If the vomit contains scarlet or brown blood, then urgent consultation with a doctor is necessary.

Cancer manifests itself at the initial stage by the presence of occult blood in the stool. This phenomenon indicates that gastric bleeding is occurring. Moreover, in case of stomach cancer, tests for blood content in feces will constantly confirm its presence in feces. If, after repeated such studies, the result is always positive, then this is a serious symptom confirming the development of a malignant tumor in the stomach.

If bleeding in the stomach is regular, then it is accompanied by shortness of breath, fatigue, and pale skin. Not all cases of early stage cancer contain blood in the stool. A doctor will help determine the cause of blood in stool or vomit after an examination. Bleeding can be caused not only by malignant tumors in the stomach, but also by duodenal ulcers and other gastrointestinal diseases.

Dramatic weight loss and changes in well-being

Constant fatigue and sudden weight loss are the first symptoms of stomach cancer. It has been noticed that this sign of cancer often occurs in those who have suffered from gastritis with secretory deficiency for a long time. For other people, thinness occurs because they stop eating enough food due to loss of appetite and discomfort after eating.

How quickly does stomach cancer develop?

The precancerous condition of this disease sometimes lasts 10-20 years. At this time, only if the first symptoms of the disease are present will an experienced doctor be able to suspect cancer. Gastric cancer is often detected in the later stages. First, a person suffers from gastritis, which, in the absence of suitable treatment, becomes chronic. Then comes atrophy of the gastric mucosa, the formation of atypical and cancer cells. In those who lead a healthy lifestyle, cancer develops more slowly than in people who use tobacco, alcohol, overcooked and too hot food.

How long do people with stomach cancer live?

There is a concept of “five-year survival rate”. This term means that if a patient lives for 5 years after cancer treatment, he is cured and will never suffer from the disease again. Statistics show that when detected and provided with medical care at stage 1 of the disease, the survival prognosis is 80% of patients, at stage 2 – 56%, at stage 3 – 38%, at stage 4 – 5%. These data show that it is possible to defeat the disease if you contact it at its first manifestations and follow the doctor’s recommendations.

Attention! The information presented in the article is for informational purposes only. The materials in the article do not encourage self-treatment. Only a qualified doctor can make a diagnosis and give treatment recommendations based on the individual characteristics of a particular patient.

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The gastrointestinal tract is by far the most cancer-prone system in our body. A tumor can develop anywhere in this organ. At the same time, all gastrointestinal cancer pathologies are dangerous and have the same feature: in the early stages, there are practically no signs of the disease.

stomach and pancreas

For example, cancer in the pancreas is often not detected until it reaches a stage when it is already difficult to treat (the tumor has enlarged and begun to spread).

Externally, the symptoms of cancer are manifested by the patient's jaundice, weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, and the presence of fat in the stool. If the tumor has blocked the bile duct into the intestine, the stool loses its brown color and becomes pale, and the urine, on the contrary, darkens.

By the way, cancer is detected earlier than in oncopathology of other areas.

Colon cancer: symptoms

Cancer (colorectal) ranks second in the country in terms of the number of cases. Like pathologies in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, there are no specific symptoms that belong only to it. Blood in the stool or black stools, constant constipation or diarrhea, unexplained weight loss in the stomach, bloating - these are not only symptoms of cancer, but also manifestations of other diseases.

Method for early diagnosis of cancer

Based on the above, one of the most effective methods for timely diagnosis of oncopathology is colonoscopy (a complete visual examination of the walls of the large intestine using a probe).

This procedure allows not only to determine the condition of the intestinal mucosa, but also to painlessly take, if necessary, small fragments of tissue for laboratory analysis during the examination. If small polyps are detected, they can be removed immediately.

If there is a hereditary tendency to cancer in the family, such an examination should be done for everyone who has reached the age of forty and repeated examinations should be carried out regularly: once every 4-5 years.

What manifestations should you be wary of?

In order not to miss the early symptoms of cancer, you need to be attentive to the condition of your body. Thus, frequent changes in bowel function (constipation, diarrhea) and detection of traces of blood in the stool should alert you and force you to immediately consult a doctor.

At later stages of tumor development, patients also develop a feeling of incomplete emptying and also an alarming sign that requires mandatory consultation with a specialist may be pain during bowel movements, false urges to defecate, and, of course, pain in the rectum.

When is colorectal cancer most likely to develop?

There are risk factors that make the development of cancer most likely. This:

ulcerative colitis (the presence of inflammation and ulcers of the intestine);
congenital familial polyposis (with the formation of polyps on the lining of the colon);
love of fatty foods (regular consumption of foods high in fat but low in fiber).

Don't wait until cancer symptoms are completely undeniable! As a rule, this occurs in the later stages of the disease. Don't take risks and be healthy!

Successful treatment of oncology depends on the stage of the disease. You should know and promptly recognize the symptoms of gastrointestinal cancer.

How does the disease manifest itself at the initial stage?

You should consult a doctor if you have the following clinical signs:

Loss of appetite. It’s not just an isolated incident that should alert you, but a persistent reluctance to eat. If food disgusts you, or you have to force yourself to eat it for three or more days, you should consult a doctor.
Weakness appears and performance decreases, even after rest.
Gastric discomfort occurs. We are talking about symptoms that the patient has never experienced before - for example, if after a small amount of food a feeling of overeating occurs. Vomiting and nausea, if they are not associated with poisoning, can be symptoms of gastrointestinal cancer.
Weight loss with a normal diet should also be of concern.
The appearance of uncharacteristic depressive states in a person. Reluctance to do anything, detachment from other people and from the world in general.
Heartburn, gas formation, regurgitation.
Anemia.

The disease can occur in three forms:

Latent. Cancer is discovered by chance on x-rays or during an examination with a doctor. The disease is asymptomatic.
Painless form.
The appearance of unpleasant sensations. Patients complain of pain in the upper abdomen. Often the suffering continues all day, and intensifies with movement. Pain can radiate to the back when the tumor grows deeply. Many tumors of the gastrointestinal tract have no symptoms at the initial stage. Oncologists divide all clinical signs into 2 groups: general and local. Patients often complain of pain with this disease. Unpleasant sensations appear after eating, sometimes from fatty foods.

A characteristic feature of malignant tumors is that the pain is not severe, but dull.

Cases have been recorded where the sensations are strong.
Doctors are alarmed by the symptom when a peptic ulcer is accompanied by weight loss and general weakness. Depending on where the tumor is located, clinical signs also change.

With duodenal carcinoma, there may be symptoms such as:

constipation;
diarrhea;
stomach ache;
nausea;
heartburn;
vomit;
jaundice.

Symptoms of small intestinal carcinoma include:

weight loss;
nausea;
vomit;
weakness and fatigue;
diarrhea;
stomach ache.

For rectal carcinoma, the symptoms are as follows:

constipation;
blood in stool;
pain.

Colon carcinoma has the following symptoms:

weight loss;
abdominal pain.

In gastrointestinal oncology, symptoms have common features with other diseases. Diagnosing cancer at an early stage is very important. You should undergo regular screening for early detection of the disease.