Is there any chance of surgical cure for gastric cancer that has spread and metastasized?

On July 2, 2021, the 91st patient education live broadcast of TopMD's branded patient education program in the field of oncology, "Let's Meet the Doctor," discussed the topic of: Tailoring surgical plans based on the characteristics of Chinese gastric cancer patients.

This live broadcast is the seventh episode of TopMD's "Let's Meet the Great Doctor" (Season 2) "Outstanding Surgical Experts Show". We invited Professor Zhao Yuzhou, deputy director and chief physician of the General Surgery Department of Henan Cancer Hospital, to broadcast live on the homepage of TopMD's all-media matrix: Sohu Health, Sohu Video, Sina News, Tencent News, Tencent Video, Healthy China TV, Toutiao, Xigua Video, Baidu Health, and 9 other platforms, with an online viewing volume of 1,003,739 times.

For the convenience of patients, we edited the essence of this live broadcast into an anti-cancer public course and broadcast it twice on the entire network. Today's episode (1) has been synchronized to the TopMD full network media matrix: People's Daily client, Xinhuanet client, Toutiao, NetEase News, Sohu News, Tencent News, Science Popularization China, CCTV Video, iQiyi, Qutoutiao. Let's talk about it: Gastric cancer is a global disease, but it is also an "Asian disease". The number of cases in China, Japan and South Korea is the highest. The number of gastric cancer cases in China accounts for about 42% of the world. The incidence of cardia cancer in Henan is relatively high. Gastroscopy is the most accurate and effective means of detecting gastric cancer. So once gastric cancer is diagnosed, should it be treated surgically as soon as possible? Not really.

If gastric cancer is found in the early stage during a physical examination, the tumor grows in the gastric mucosa, the lesion range is relatively small, the degree of differentiation is relatively good, and the malignancy is not so high, then the tumor can be directly removed under gastroscopy. The survival rate and recurrence rate of this direct removal of the tumor under gastroscopy are the same as those of total gastrectomy at this stage, but the quality of life is obviously different from that of total gastrectomy.

If it is a relatively late stage of gastric cancer, or even if it has spread and metastasized, most patients still have the opportunity for surgery. With the development of medical technology, the treatment model for mid- to late-stage gastric cancer is a comprehensive treatment with surgery as the main method, which improves the quality of life, improves the patient's survival period, and strives to provide patients with surgical opportunities as much as possible.

There are two important assessments that need to be completed before surgery. One is pathological diagnosis, which is to see whether the patient has gastric cancer. After all, not all tumors growing in the stomach are called gastric cancer. Some are actually lymphomas, and some are G3 grade neuroendocrine cancers. The treatment of these two types of tumors is currently mainly chemotherapy, not surgery. The other is to assess the patient's tolerance to surgery before surgery, such as whether he can tolerate anesthesia, and the condition of the patient's liver, kidneys, heart, and lungs.

After gastric cancer is diagnosed, is it better for the patient to undergo surgery first or neoadjuvant therapy first and then surgery? How can a more scientific and accurate treatment plan be formulated for the patient? Zhao Yuzhou's team has conducted in-depth research in this area and has unique experience.

Tomorrow's highlights

The treatment of cardia cancer has always been a difficult problem. Many of our experiences and surgical methods come from abroad. However, Chinese cardia cancer has its own characteristics, so there should be more targeted methods to treat Chinese patients' cardia cancer. Professor Zhao Yuzhou's team is at the forefront of the treatment of cardia cancer in China. In tomorrow's "Let's Meet the Great Doctor", Professor Zhao Yuzhou will continue to reveal the secrets for you.

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