What Happens If Stomach Cancer Is Found?

If stomach cancer is found, tests will be done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. The process of staging describes the extent and severity of cancer growth. Once the doctor knows the stage of the disease, treatment can be planned.

Staging includes:

• The size of the main tumor.

• The degree to which the cancer has invaded the surrounding tissue.

• The extent to which it has spread to lymph nodes or other areas of the body.

Staging helps to assess the outlook (in general, the more advanced the stage, the worse the outlook), but it also helps to determine the most appropriate treatment. For example, a cancer at a particular stage may respond better to radiation therapy than to surgery.

Because stomach cancer can spread to other organs near the stomach, as well as to the lungs and lymph nodes (especially those found in the rear of the abdominal cavity), the doctor may order a CT (computed tomography) scan, and/or an ultrasound exam to complete the staging process.

In some cases, staging may not be complete until surgery is performed, and lymph nodes and other tissue samples from the abdomen have been examined by a pathologist for cancer cells. Final decisions about treatment after surgery may depend on these findings.

The physician uses all available findings to choose a stage that best describes the present condition of the cancer.