The difference between cardia cancer and gastric cancer

Although both gastric cancer and cardia cancer are common digestive system malignancies, they are obviously different in pathology, symptoms, and treatment, so they should be treated separately. Here is a brief introduction to the differences in symptoms between the two types of tumors. I hope you will understand and it will be helpful to you.

Cardiac cancer occurs at the junction of the esophagus and stomach, or at the upper opening of the stomach. Due to its location characteristics, it is different from general gastric cancer and esophageal cancer in terms of pathogenesis, cytology and clinical treatment, so it is discussed separately.

Common symptoms of cardia cancer include:

(1) Obstruction:

Continuous vomiting of mucus is caused by the infiltration and inflammation of cardiac cancer, which reflexively causes increased secretion of esophageal glands and salivary glands. Mucus accumulates in the esophagus and can reflux, causing choking and even aspiration pneumonia.

(2) Dysphagia:

It is a typical symptom of cardiac cancer. Generally, the appearance of this symptom indicates that the tumor has invaded more than two-thirds of the circumference of the esophagus, and is often accompanied by infiltration of the surrounding tissues of the esophagus and lymph node metastasis. The overall trend is progressive worsening and persistence.

(3) Pain:

Persistent dull pain behind the sternum or in the scapular area of ​​the back indicates that the cancer has invaded the body and caused periesophageal mediastinitis. The pain caused by cardiac cancer can occur in the upper abdomen. The possibility of surgical resection is small, and attention should be paid to the possibility of tumor perforation.

(4) Hoarseness:

It is often caused by direct invasion of the tumor or metastatic lymph nodes compressing the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Laryngoscopy can help with diagnosis.

(5) Bleeding:

Patients with cardia cancer may also vomit blood or have bloody stools. The tumor may infiltrate large blood vessels and cause fatal bleeding.

(6) Weight loss and emaciation:

Due to difficulty in eating and poor nutrition, patients become thin, but generally have an appetite. Once anorexia occurs, it is often a sign of widespread tumor metastasis.

When we talk about gastric cancer, most patients have no obvious clinical symptoms in the early stage, and only some have mild indigestion symptoms, such as upper abdominal pain, slight fullness, pain, nausea, belching, etc. These symptoms are not unique to gastric cancer, and are often seen in chronic gastritis, ulcer disease, functional dyspepsia, and even normal people occasionally have them, so they are not taken seriously. Nearly 80% of patients will experience upper abdominal pain; about 1/3 of patients will experience stomach bloating, upper abdominal discomfort, loss of appetite, indigestion, accompanied by pantothenic acid; 1/3 of patients may have no obvious digestive system symptoms, but may experience unexplained weight loss, emaciation, fatigue, and weakness, and some patients may also experience symptoms such as pantothenic acid, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, belching, or black stools.

Unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and lack of energy are also a common but non-specific gastric cancer signal, and they are progressive and increasingly severe. Some are secondary to indigestion symptoms. Patients automatically restrict their daily diet due to abdominal distension and belching after eating, resulting in weight loss, weight loss, and fatigue.

In addition, nausea and vomiting can further cause malnutrition and aggravate the symptoms of weight loss and fatigue. Of course, weight loss and fatigue are more obvious in the later stages of advanced gastric cancer.