title: Gastric cancer: diagnosis, risk factors, treatment and life issues.
abstract: Gastric cancer is the sixth most common malignancy in the UK. It is responsible for over 9000 deaths annually in the UK. Distal gastric cancer has a decreasing incidence, but proximal gastric cancer continues to increase. Gastroscopy remains the gold standards for accurate diagnosis. Early diagnosis is essential, but symptoms and signs are often mistaken for other less serious diseases. Major surgery is the only proven treatment, but 5-year survival rates postoperatively are only 34%, and many people will continue to suffer side-effects of the surgery. Open access gastroscopy and health promotion may be the best chance of detecting this disease early enough so that it is treated successfully.
authors.affiliation: Surgical High Dependency Unit, North Staffordshire NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hicks
mesh_terms: D015984:Causality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods; D005756:Gastritis / Q000150:complications; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology