What are the inflammations that cause gastric cancer

The incidence of chronic gastritis in people over 50 years old is 50%. In clinical work, we often encounter patients who are worried and anxious when they get the test report of "chronic atrophic gastritis", worrying that it will turn into gastric cancer sooner or later. Is this worry justified? What is the relationship between gastritis and gastric cancer?

1. Prelude to Gastric Cancer The ice is not formed in a day, and the occurrence of gastric cancer is not a matter of one day or one night. The occurrence of gastric cancer is not a sudden transformation of normal gastric mucosal epithelial cells into cancer cells, but a gradual process. Before developing into gastric cancer, it often undergoes a long precancerous change process. For example, chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastric polyp, residual stomach after surgery, pernicious anemia and giant gastric mucosal hypertrophy are "precancerous diseases" of gastric cancer, which will significantly increase the risk of gastric cancer. Among them, the most common is chronic atrophic gastritis.
2. The etiology of chronic atrophic gastritis is complex and may be related to smoking, alcoholism, improper medication, overwork, depression, etc. Some are caused by chronic superficial gastritis; and some are autoimmune diseases. As a precancerous disease, chronic atrophic gastritis can further cause abnormal proliferation of the intestinal epithelium and become cancerous. The canceration rate is related to the length and severity of the medical history. Therefore, some patients may indeed take the path of "chronic superficial gastritis-chronic atrophic gastritis-intestinal metaplasia-atypical hyperplasia-gastric cancer".
3. There is no need to worry about the future Many patients who are diagnosed with atrophic gastritis know that it is a precancerous disease. They are worried about cancer and feel burdened all day long. This is completely unnecessary. After all, precancerous diseases of gastric cancer are not equal to gastric cancer. These are two different pathological processes. Most patients with atrophic gastritis can be transformed into superficial gastritis or maintain the status quo after reasonable, systematic and regular treatment. Only some patients with severe atrophic gastritis can become cancerous after a long period of time. This is mainly seen in cases with moderate or above atypical hyperplasia and intestinal metaplasia. There is no need to take it lightly or bear a heavy mental burden. It is not conducive to treatment, but rather helps the development of the disease.