Gastric cancer originates from the cells lining the inner mucosal layer of the stomach. As it grows, it spreads through the muscular and serosal layers of the stomach before metastasizing to lymph nodes and distant organs such as the liver, lungs and peritoneal surfaces.
Data from the Singapore Cancer Registry in 2012 shows that gastric cancer is the 7th most common cancer in males (incidence 5.2%) and the 8th most common cancer in females (incidence 3.7%). However, the incidence of gastric cancer is outweighed by its mortality, which is 4th highest in males (6.9% of all cancers) and 5th highest in females (6.2% of all cancers).
Eat healthily to prevent stomach cancer. The high mortality rate is because many patients are often diagnosed in later stages of the disease, when treatment is often more difficult and less successful. Therefore it is essential to have a high index of suspicion in order to improve early detection.
