Causes and Diagnoses

Causes and Diagnoses of Gastric Cancer

The cause of gastric cancer is unknown, but risk factors include:

• Diet
• Alcohol and tobacco use
• Pernicious anemia
• Gastric polyps
• Ulcers
• Exposure to certain industrial chemicals

Diagnoses

Diagnosing stomach cancer begins with an assessment of your medical history and a physical exam. Your physician may also order diagnostic tests, including:

• Fecal occult blood test to search for blood in your stool
• Upper GI series using a barium swallow with X-ray
• Upper endoscopy or gastroscopy using a thin, flexible and lighted tube called an endoscope
• Endoscopic ultrasound sound imaging using a thin, flexible tube
• Biopsy via gastroscope taking a small sample of tissue during a gastroscopy

Looking at the cells from a biopsy under a microscope is the only definitive way to diagnose stomach cancer.