Types of Stomach or Gastric Cancer

• Development of stomach cancer

Stomach cancer tend to develop slowly over many years. Before a true cancer develops, pre-cancerous changes often occur in the inner lining (mucosa) of the stomach. These early changes rarely cause symptoms and therefore often go undetected.

Cancer starting in different sections of the stomach may cause different cancer symptoms and tend to have different outcomes. The cancer location can also affect the cancer treatment options. For example, cancer that start at the GE junction are staged and treated the same as cancer of the esophagus.

Types of stomach cancer

Adenocarcinoma

Most (about 90% to 95%) stomach cancer and liver cancer are adenocarcinomas. A stomach cancer or gastric cancer almost always is an adenocarcinoma. These cancers develop from the cells that form the innermost lining of the stomach (the mucosa).

Lymphoma

These are cancer of the immune system tissue that are sometimes found in the wall of the stomach. The cancer treatment and outlook depend on the type of lymphoma.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)

These rare tumors start in cells in the wall of the stomach called interstitial cells of Cajal. Some of these tumors are non-cancerous (benign); others are cancerous. Although GISTs can be found anywhere in the digestive tract, most are found in the stomach.

Carcinoid tumor

These tumors start in hormone-making cells of the stomach. Most of these tumors do not spread to other organs

Other cancer

Other types of cancer, such as squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and leiomyosarcoma, can also start in the stomach, but these cancer are very rare.

Staging of Stomach or Gastric Cancer

If cancer cells are found in the tissue sample, the next step is to Stage the cancer, or find out the extent of the disease.

The clinical stages of stomach and gastric cancer are:

• Stage 0. Limited to the inner lining of the stomach.
• Stage I- Penetration to the second or third layers of the stomach (Stage 1A) or to the second layer and nearby lymph nodes (Stage 1B).
• Stage II- Penetration to the second layer and more distant lymph nodes, or the third layer and only nearby lymph nodes, or all four layers but not the lymph nodes.
• Stage III- Penetration to the third layer and more distant lymph nodes, or penetration to the fourth layer and either nearby tissues or nearby or more distant lymph nodes
• Stage IV- Cancer has spread to nearby tissues and more distant lymph nodes or has metastasized to other organs