Symptoms of gastric and esophageal cancer

summary

Gastric cancer and esophageal cancer are both digestive tract tumors, and gastric cancer and esophageal cancer are both diseases with high mortality. So, what's the difference between gastric cancer and esophageal cancer? The main difference is in symptoms!

Symptoms of gastric and esophageal cancer

First, the early symptoms of esophageal cancer are often not obvious, but there may be different degrees of discomfort when swallowing coarse and hard food, including choking feeling of swallowing food, burning, needling or traction and friction pain behind the sternum. Food passes slowly with a sense of stagnation or foreign matter. Choking stagnation is usually relieved by swallowing water. The symptoms were mild and severe, and the progress was slow.

Second, the typical symptoms of advanced esophageal cancer are progressive dysphagia, first of all, food that is difficult to swallow, then semi liquid food, and finally water and saliva can not be swallowed. Often spit mucoid sputum, saliva for the hypopharynx and esophageal secretions. The patient gradually became thin, dehydrated and weak. Persistent chest or back pain is an advanced symptom, and the cancer has invaded extra esophageal tissue. In physical examination, special attention should be paid to whether there are enlarged supraclavicular lymph nodes, liver mass, ascites, pleural effusion and other distant metastasis signs.

Third, patients with advanced gastric cancer often have more clear upper gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal discomfort, fullness after eating, with the progress of the disease, upper abdominal pain, loss of appetite, fatigue. According to the location of the tumor, there are also special manifestations. Cancer of cardia and fundus of stomach may have retrosternal pain and progressive dysphagia; Gastric cancer near the pylorus showed pyloric obstruction; After the tumor destroys the blood vessel, may have hematemesis, black stool and so on digestive tract hemorrhage symptom.

matters needing attention

Persistent abdominal pain often indicates tumor expansion beyond the gastric wall, such as supraclavicular lymphadenopathy, ascites, jaundice, abdominal mass, anterior rectal fossa and mass. Anemia, emaciation, malnutrition and even cachexia often appear in patients with advanced gastric cancer.