Gastrointestinal cancer refers to the malignant conditions of the gastrointestinal tract and the gastrointestinal accessory, including the esophagus, stomach, bile system, pancreas, small intestine, colon, rectum and anus. Symptoms related to the affected organs and may include obstruction (causing difficulty swallowing or defecation), abnormal bleeding or other related problems. Diagnosis often requires endoscopy, followed by suspicious tissue biopsies. Treatment depends on the location of the tumor, as well as the type of cancer cells and whether it has invaded other tissues or spreads elsewhere. These factors also determine the prognosis.
Overall, the digestive tract and gastrointestinal accessory organs (pancreas, liver, gallbladder) are responsible for more cancers and more cancer deaths than any other system in the body. There are significant geographic variations in different rates of gastrointestinal cancer.
Video Gastrointestinal cancer
Top digestive tract
Esophageal cancer
Cancer stricken is the sixth most common cancer in the world, and its incidence is on the rise. About three to five men are affected for every woman. "Esophageal cancer belt," in which the incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is more than a hundredfold from adjacent areas, extending from northeastern China through central Asia to northern Iran. Ethiopia also has a very high incidence. There are two main types of esophageal cancer - adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Worldwide, the incidence of each species is almost the same, but in developed countries like North America and Europe, adenocarcinoma is the most common.
Esophageal cancer is often detected late because there is usually no early symptoms. However, if the cancer is immediately caught, the patient can have a five-year survival rate of 90% or more. At the time of esophageal cancer is usually detected, though, it may have spread beyond the esophageal wall, and survival rates fall significantly. In China, the overall five-year survival rate for advanced esophageal cancer is about 20%, and in the United States about 15%.
Stomach Cancer
Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the world. East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia) is a high-risk area for gastric cancer, and North America, Australia, New Zealand and western and northern Africa are low-risk areas. The most common type of gastric cancer is adenocarcinoma, which causes about 750,000 deaths each year. Important factors that may contribute to the development of gastric cancer include diet, smoking and alcohol consumption, genetic aspects (including some hereditary syndromes) and infections (eg, Helicobacter pylori or Epstein-Barr virus) and anemia pernicious. Chemotherapy improves survival compared to the best supportive care, but the optimal regimen is unclear.
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and the seventh most common in Europe. In 2008, globally there were 280,000 new cases of reported pancreatic cancer and 265,000 deaths. These cancers are classified as endocrine or nonendocrine tumors. The most common is ductal adenocarcinoma. The most significant risk factors for pancreatic cancer are advanced age (over 60) and smoking. Chronic pancreatitis, diabetes or other conditions may also be involved in their development. Early pancreatic cancer does not tend to produce any symptoms, but when the tumor develops, the patient may experience severe pain in the upper abdomen, possibly radiating into the back. Other symptoms may be jaundice, yellow skin and eyes.
Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis, with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%. At the time the cancer is diagnosed, usually at an advanced stage, it is inoperable. Only one in about fifteen to twenty patients undergo curative surgery. Pancreatic cancer tends to be aggressive, and it rejects radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Liver cancer
People get liver cancer (also called hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC or hepatoma) usually from prolonged hepatitis B or C infection or as a result of cirrhosis from chronic alcoholism. Liver cancer can cause the skin and eyes to turn yellow (jaundice), itching (pruritus), or causing fluid accumulation in the abdomen (ascites). A person may feel an enlarged mass, or cancer may be revealed by an abnormal liver function test.
A practitioner present may order a biopsy, MRI or CT scan, and the patient may be monitored by blood tests (including alpha-fetoprotein, liver function tests or ultrasound).These cancers are usually treated according to their TNM stadium and whether there is no cirrhosis, surgery, embolization, ablation or liver transplantation.
Gallbladder cancer
Cancer of the gallbladder is usually adenocarcinoma, and is common in elderly women. Bladder cancer is strongly associated with gallstones, gallbladder porcelain appearance on ultrasound, and presence of polyps in the gallbladder. Gallbladder cancer can manifest by weight loss, jaundice, and pain in the upper right. Usually diagnosed with ultrasound and staged with CT. Prognosis for bad gallbladder cancer.
More
- MALT lymphoma is lymphoid tissue cancer associated with the mucosa, usually in the stomach.
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumors represent 1% to 3% gastrointestinal malignancy.
- Gallbladder cancer, including cholangiocarcinoma.
Maps Gastrointestinal cancer
Lowering the digestive tract
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is an elderly disease: It usually comes from secretory cells lining the intestines, and risk factors include low-fiber diet of vegetable and high-fat. If younger people get such cancers, it is often associated with hereditary syndromes such as Peutz-Jegher, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer or familial adenomatous polyposis. Colorectal cancer can be detected through polyp bleeding, colicky bowel pain, intestinal obstruction or polyp biopsy on colonoscopy screening. The constant feeling of having to go to the toilet or anemia may also lead to this type of cancer.
The use of colonoscopy can find this cancer, and biopsy may reveal the extent of intestinal wall involvement. Removal of the colon is necessary for treatment, with or without chemotherapy. Colorectal cancer has a relatively good prognosis when detected early.
Anal Cancer
An important anatomical marker in anal cancer is the pectinate line (dentate line), which is located about 1-2 cm from the anal edge (where the anal mucosa in the anal canal becomes the skin). Anal cancer located above this line (towards the head) is more likely to be a carcinoma, while those located below (toward the legs) are more likely to be squamous cell carcinomas that may be ulcerated. Anal cancer is strongly associated with ulcerative colitis and sexually transmitted infections HPV and HIV. Anal cancer can be a cause of constipation or tenesmus, or it may be felt as a palpable mass, although it can sometimes be present as an ulcerative form.
Anal cancer is investigated by biopsy and can be treated with excision and radiotherapy, or with external beam radiotherapy and additional chemotherapy. Five-year survival rate with the last procedure above 70%.
Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors
Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors are a slow-growing form of rare cancer that affects certain cells in the lining of the stomach and intestines. The cells affect the hormones that regulate the production of digestive juices and muscles that move food through the stomach and intestines. This type of cancer usually occurs in the appendix, small intestine, or rectum. Its presence is associated with an increased risk of cancer that affects other parts of the digestive system. Usually treated with surgery.
Field disabled
'Field disability' or '' field cancer '' is a network area that precedes and affects cancer progression. Field defects occur in progression to gastrointestinal cancers. This field defect may contain visible dirty manifestations, epigenetic changes and/or mutations.
Esophagus
Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus tends to appear on a field defect called Barrett's esophagus, a red patch on the tissue in the pink lower throat. The diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus is confirmed by metaplastic changes of the esophageal mucosa from the squamous to the columnar mucosa with intestinal metaplasia. Barrett's esophagus is the dominant pre-malignant lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma, and has a common epigenetic change.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma may occur as a second primary tumor associated with head and neck cancer, due to field cancer (ie, regional reactions to long-term carcinogenic exposures). Field defects associated with progression to squamous cell carcinoma can be identified with epigenetic markers.
Stomach
Gastric cancer develops in areas (gastric defects) of the stomach with atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia: these lesions represent the field of carcinization in which gastric (stomach-type) gastric cancer develops. In one study, field defects were clearly demonstrated in gastric carcinogenesis using high miRNA throughput data from normal gastric mucosa (from patients who had never had a malignant gastric neoplasm), non-tumor tissue adjacent to gastric cancer, and gastric cancer tissue. Larger than a 5-fold reduction was found in four miRNAs in adjacent tumor tissue and stomach cancer compared to the level of miRNA in normal gastric tissue.
Colon
When a segment of the large intestine, containing cancer, is removed, an area adjacent to the cancer (and removed with it) may exhibit additional neoplasia in polyps (see figure). This is visual evidence of the defects in the field. Some of these polyps may be premalignant neoplastic tumors. As shown by Hofstad et al., When polyps are allowed to remain in the colon and observed for three years, about 40% of polyps appear to grow larger, possibly developing into cancer. Luo et al. summarizing substantial evidence that field cancer occurs in the colon, often due to distorted DNA methylation.
References
External links
- Gastrointestinal Cancer Resource Center (GI)
- MUSC Health - Gastrointestinal Cancer (GI)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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