Can Smoking Cause Stomach Cancer

Surgery To Remove Your Stomach

You may need to have part or all of your stomach removed.

Surgery to remove part of your stomach is known as a partial or sub-total gastrectomy, and surgery to remove all of your stomach is known as a total gastrectomy. In some cases, your surgeon may remove part of your oesophagus as well as all of your stomach, using a procedure known as an oesophagogastrectomy.

These operations may be carried out using either a large incision in your tummy , or a number of smaller incisions through which surgical tools can be passed . Both of these techniques are carried out under general anaesthetic, which means you’ll be unconscious throughout the procedure.

During these operations, your surgeon will also remove the lymph nodes nearest to the cancer. It’s possible that your stomach cancer may have spread to these lymph nodes, and removing them helps prevent the cancer returning.

What Can You Do To Help Prevent Esophageal Cancer

Lifestyle modification is key. This includes a balanced nutritional diet, no tobacco use, limited alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight and light-to-moderate exercise a few times a week.

Tell your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Regurgitation, food backing up into mouth and throat
• Difficulty swallowing / feeling like food is stuck in your throat
• Heartburn
• Vomiting blood
• Weight loss

If your doctor suspects that you may have esophageal cancer, your next step may be imaging such as an x-ray, CT, or MRI and an upper endoscopy and biopsy.

Changes In Genes In Stomach Cancer Cells

Recent research has provided clues on how some stomach cancers form. For instance, H pylori bacteria, particularly certain subtypes, can convert substances in some foods into chemicals that cause mutations in the DNA of the cells in the stomach lining. This may help explain why certain foods such as preserved meats increase a persons risk for stomach cancer. On the other hand, some of the foods that might lower stomach cancer risk, such as fruits and vegetables, contain antioxidants that can block substances that damage a cells DNA.

Stomach cancers, like other cancers, are caused by changes in the DNA inside cells. DNA is the chemical that carries our genes, which control how our cells function. We look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. But DNA affects more than how we look.

Some genes control when cells grow, divide into new cells, and die:

• Genes that normally help cells grow, divide, and stay alive can sometimes change to become oncogenes.
• Genes that help keep cell division under control, repair mistakes in DNA, or cause cells to die at the right time are called tumor suppressor genes.

Cancers can be caused by DNA changes that keep oncogenes turned on, or that turn off tumor suppressor genes.

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Evidence Ties Smoking To Throat Stomach Cancer

By Amy Norton, Reuters Health

4 Min Read

NEW YORK – Smokers face an increased risk of certain types of throat and stomach cancers, even years after they quit, a new study finds.

An ashtray with cigarette butts is seen outside a restaurant, in London March 9, 2011. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Combining the results of 33 past studies, Italian researchers found that current smokers were more than twice as likely as nonsmokers to develop cancer, either in their esophagus or in a part of the stomach called the gastric cardia.

In some of the studies, the risk of esophagus cancer remained high even when people had quit smoking three decades earlier.

The two cancers, both known as adenocarcinomas, are relatively uncommon in Western countries. Rates elsewhere are much higher, especially in less developed countries. But in recent decades, rates of the cancers have been rising in the U.S. and Europe — possibly related to growing rates of obesity.

Smoking has long been considered a risk factor for the two cancers.

But these latest findings offer a better quantification of the risks, said senior researcher Dr. Eva Negri, of the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan.

Whats more, they suggest that the risks remain higher than average for some time after smokers quit.

Stopping smoking is highly beneficial at any age, but it appears that for these cancers the risk decreases only slowly, Negri told Reuters Health in an email.

Stomach Cancer Prevention Patient Version

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Cancerprevention is action taken to lower the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the number of new cases of cancer in a group or population is lowered. Hopefully, this will lower the number of deaths caused by cancer.

To prevent new cancers from starting, scientists look at risk factors and protective factors. Anything that increases your chance of developing cancer is called a cancer risk factor anything that decreases your chance of developing cancer is called a cancer protective factor.

Some risk factors for cancer can be avoided, but many cannot. For example, both smoking and inheriting certain genes are risk factors for some types of cancer, but only smoking can be avoided. Regular exercise and a healthy diet may be protective factors for some types of cancer. Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may lower your risk but it does not mean that you will not get cancer.

Different ways to prevent cancer are being studied, including:

• Changing lifestyle or eating habits.
• Avoiding things known to cause cancer.
• Taking medicines to treat a precancerouscondition or to keep cancer from starting.

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How Is Cancer Treated

The treatment for cancer depends on the type of cancer and the stage of the disease . Doctors may also consider the patients age and general health. Often, the goal of treatment is to cure the cancer. In other cases, the goal is to control the disease or to reduce symptoms for as long as possible. The treatment plan for a person may change over time.12

Most treatment plans include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Other plans involve biological therapy .12

Some cancers respond best to a single type of treatment. Other cancers may respond best to a combination of treatments.12

For patients who get very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, a stem cell transplant, also known as a bone marrow transplant, may be recommended by their doctor. This is because high-dose therapies destroy both cancer cells and normal blood cells. A stem cell transplant can help the body to make healthy blood cells to replace the ones lost due to the cancer treatment. Its a complicated procedure with many side effects and risks.12

Quitting smoking improves the outlook for people with cancer. People who continue to smoke after diagnosis raise their risk for future cancers and death. They are more likely to die from cancer than nonsmokers and are more likely to develop a second tobacco-related cancer.5

What Is The Prognosis For People Who Have Stomach Cancer

The outlook for stomach cancer depends on the stage of the cancer. People in the early stages of stomach cancer have a much greater rate of survival than those at a later stage:

• If stomach cancer is found in its earliest stage and can be removed with an endoscope, the five-year survival rate is higher than 90 percent.
• If the cancer is found after it has spread to areas surrounding the stomach, the five-year survival rate is 28 percent.
• If the cancer has spread to areas beyond those surrounding the stomach, the five-year survival rate is 4 percent.

Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 02/17/2019.

References

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Does Quitting Smoking Lower The Risk Of Getting And Dying From Cancer

Yes. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing and dying from cancer and other diseases caused by smoking. Although it is never too late to benefit from quitting, the benefit is greatest among those who quit at a younger age .

The risk of premature death and the chances of developing and dying from a smoking-related cancer depend on many factors, including the number of years a person has smoked, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and the age at which the person began smoking.

How Does Smoking Cause Cancer

• Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK, and worldwide.
• Harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke affect the entire body not just our lungs. And smoking causes at least 15 different cancer types.
• There is no safe level of smoking – stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health, and there are many support and quitting options available.

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Sex Differences For Gastric Cancer Risk In Current Smokers

All included studies reported sex differences in the association between gastric cancer risk and current smokers compared with non-smokers. We noted current smokers were associated with higher risk of gastric cancer when compared with non-smokers in men and women . Further, the increased risk of gastric cancer in current smokers compared to non-smokers was higher in men than in women , with significant heterogeneity . The result of the sensitivity analysis indicated that the sex differences in the association between current smokers and gastric cancer were affected by the exclusion of multiple studies due to the small numbers of cohorts included . The results of the meta-regression analysis showed that follow-up duration was not a significant factor contributing to the sex differences of the association between current smokers and gastric cancer . We used subgroup analyses to minimize heterogeneity among the included studies and evaluate the sex differences in subpopulations . The summary RRR for current smokers indicated an increased risk of gastric cancer in men when the study was conducted in Asia , regardless of follow-up duration , when the study reported gastric cancer mortality , when the study did not adjust for BMI , when the study did not adjust for alcohol consumption , and when the study had a NOS score of 7 or 8 .

Fig. 2

Smoking And Cancer Risk

• Cancer Causes

Smoking cigarettes causes about 3 out of every 10 cancer deaths in the U.S. As many as 90% of people who die of lung cancer used tobacco.

But the toxins and chemicals from cigarette smoke can lead to cancers almost anywhere in your body. Among them are some of the most common types of tumors.

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Evaluation Of Evidence On Tobacco Smoking And Gastric Cancer Risk In Japanese

From these results and assumed biological plausibility, we conclude that there is convincing evidence that tobacco smoking moderately increases the risk of gastric cancer among the Japanese population. As few previous studies have made sufficient adjustment for important potential confounding factors such as salt intake and H. pylori infection, the extent of any confounding effect is unclear. However, evidence currently available suggests that these factors are unlikely to exert a strong confounding effect.

In The United States The Number Of New Cases Of Stomach Cancer Has Stayed About The Same In Recent Years

In recent years, the number of new cases of stomach cancer in the United States has stayed about the same. Men are twice as likely as women to be diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Stomach cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world.

The number of deaths from stomach cancer has decreased over many years, especially in the United States. Black men are more than twice as likely as White men to die from stomach cancer.

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Stomach Cancer Causes: Diet And Lifestyle

Research has linked certain dietary and lifestyle choices with higher rates of stomach cancer. Researchers think that salt and similar chemicals such as sodium nitrite, which is found in cured meats, can change into cancer-causing substances.

While fine to eat in moderation, a diet high in nitrate-rich foods has been linked to higher rates of stomach cancer. These foods include:

• Processed or cured meats
• Salted, pickled and smoked foods

Other diet and lifestyle choices that increase the risk of stomach cancer include:

• Smoking or using other tobacco products
• Obesity

Stomach Cancer And Diet: Can Certain Foods Increase Your Risk

There is growing evidence that the foods we eat can increase the chances of developing certain types of cancer. A new report by the World Cancer Research Fund International says that stomach cancer is one of them.

Stomach cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of death from cancer . Older adults are more at risk to develop stomach cancer with most people in the U.S. being diagnosed over the age of 70. Men are twice as likely to develop stomach cancer compared to women.

You cant control how old you are or whether you are a man or woman, but what you eat can either increase or decrease your chances of developing stomach cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund looked at all the scientific research that was available discussing diet, weight, physical activity, and the risk of stomach cancer. After looking at 89 studies that examined nearly 77,000 cases of stomach cancer, the report concluded that each of the following can increase a persons risk for developing stomach cancer.

• Drinking three or more alcoholic drinks per day.
• Eating foods preserved by salting, such as pickled vegetables and salted or dried fish, as traditionally prepared in East Asia.
• Eating processed meats that have been preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives. Examples: ham, bacon, pastrami, salami, hot dogs, and some sausages
• Being overweight or obese, as measured by body mass index .

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Testing For Other Conditions And Cancers

Individuals who have hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome and Lynch syndrome have a drastically increased risk of stomach cancer. Recognizing these and taking precautions after receiving a doctors advice can reduce the risk.

People with close family members who have had stomach cancer and those who had invasive lobular breast cancer before the age of 50 years might benefit from genetic testing.

If a test shows changes in the CDH1 gene, a doctor may recommend removing the stomach before cancer develops.

Current research is looking into the possible cancer links of chronic Helicobacter pylori infection in the stomach lining.

Early studies suggest that treating H. pylori infection with antibiotics can reduce the risk of stomach cancer, although further research is necessary.

Risks For Stomach Cancer

Certain behaviours, substances or conditions can affect your risk, or chance, of developing cancer. Some things increase your risk and some things decrease it. Most cancers are the result of many risks. But sometimes cancer develops in people who don’t have any risks.

Helicobacter pylori infection is the main risk for stomach cancer.

More men than women develop stomach cancer. The risk of developing stomach cancer increases with age and is greatest after 50 years of age. Some studies show that low socio-economic status is linked with a higher rate of stomach cancer.

Stomach cancer is most common in Japan, China, South America and Eastern Europe. It is not as common in North America. In Canada, the number of new cases of stomach cancer diagnosed each year has been going down since the 1980s.

Precancerous conditions of the stomach include gastric epithelial dysplasia and gastric adenoma. They are not cancer, but they can sometimes become stomach cancer if they are not treated. Some of the things that increase the risk for stomach cancer may also cause these precancerous conditions. Find out more about .

Some people with certain genetic conditions have a higher than average risk for stomach cancer. Talk to your doctor about your risk. If you have a genetic condition that increases the risk of stomach cancer, you may need to visit your doctor more often to check for stomach cancer. Your doctor will recommend what tests you should have and how often you should have them.

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What Are The Immediate Health Benefits Of Quitting Smoking

The immediate health benefits of quitting smoking are substantial:

• Heart rate and blood pressure, which are abnormally high while smoking, begin to return to normal.
• Within a few hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood begins to decline.
• Within a few weeks, people who quit smoking have improved circulation, produce less phlegm, and dont cough or wheeze as often.
• Within several months of quitting, people can expect substantial improvements in lung function .
• Within a few years of quitting, people will have lower risks of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases than if they had continued to smoke.

Where Can I Get Help To Quit Smoking

NCI and other agencies and organizations can help smokers quit:

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