What is the simplest way to diagnose gastric cancer?

In clinical practice, there is no simplest way to diagnose gastric cancer. To determine whether there is gastric cancer, relevant examinations are usually required, including gastroscopy, serum tumor marker examination, abdominal CT examination, barium meal examination, gastric tissue pathology examination, etc.

1. Gastroscopy: Gastroscopy has the advantages of high accuracy and low trauma, and is an important means of screening and diagnosing gastric cancer. Through gastroscopy, doctors can directly see the situation in the patient's stomach, such as the location, size, color, shape, etc. of the lesion. Gastroscopy can not only detect early gastric cancer, but also perform biopsy on suspicious lesions and analyze the nature of the lesion through pathology.

2. Serum tumor marker test: Serum tumor marker test can be used as an auxiliary diagnosis method for gastric cancer. Most gastric cancer patients may have elevated tumor markers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19-9, etc. However, the increase in tumor markers does not necessarily mean that the patient has gastric cancer, but the changed values ​​can serve as a clue for doctors to diagnose.

3. Abdominal CT examination: Abdominal CT examination is one of the conventional examination methods for gastric cancer. Through the examination, thickening of the gastric wall, the presence of nodules or metastatic lesions outside the stomach can be found, and the condition of the abdominal lymph nodes can also be evaluated.

4. Barium meal examination: After taking barium orally, the shape of the stomach, mucosal folds and peristalsis can be observed by X-ray. Barium meal examination can find ulcers in the stomach wall and masses outside the stomach, which has a certain reference value for the diagnosis of gastric cancer. However, for the diagnosis of early gastric cancer, the effect of barium meal examination may not be as good as gastroscopy.

5. Pathological examination of gastric tissue: Whether the gastric tissue samples are obtained by gastroscopy or other methods, pathological analysis is required to clarify the nature of the lesion. Pathological examination can determine the type, degree of differentiation and depth of infiltration of gastric cancer.

The early symptoms of gastric cancer are often atypical and easy to be ignored. For high-risk groups such as those with a family history of gastric cancer and a long history of gastric disease, regular gastroscopy examinations should be performed to detect potential gastric cancer risks at an early stage. If patients experience symptoms suspected of gastric cancer, such as upper abdominal discomfort, pain, and black stools, they should seek medical attention in a timely manner and undergo relevant examinations and treatments.