How do patients with gastric cancer determine their treatment options?

Gastric cancer patients have the following treatment options according to different stages:

1. Treatment options for patients who are eligible for surgery

(1) Early gastric cancer: For early gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis, no adjuvant therapy is required after radical surgery, regardless of whether the cancer is confined to the mucosa or has invaded the submucosa. If lymph node metastasis has occurred, chemotherapy is required.

(2) Advanced gastric cancer: Strive for radical resection. For gastric cancer clinically estimated to be in stage II or III, especially for those with large tumors, poorly differentiated cells, and serosal infiltration, preoperative radiotherapy can be attempted to improve the surgical resection rate and postoperative efficacy.

All patients with advanced gastric cancer should receive adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery, regardless of whether radical or palliative resection is performed and whether or not there is lymph node metastasis.

For patients who undergo palliative resection, if the cancer focus remaining in the abdominal cavity is relatively localized, the cancer focus will be marked with a silver clip during surgery to facilitate postoperative radiotherapy.

2. Comprehensive treatment plan for patients whose tumors have not been removed. This type of patients includes those with postoperative recurrence, and they are mainly treated with Chinese and Western medicines. The specific plan is selected based on the patient's general condition, heart, liver, and kidney function, the site of tumor recurrence or metastasis, and previous medication.