What are treatment options for cancer that blocks the digestive tract?

Cancer that blocks the digestive tract

People with advanced stomach cancer may develop a tumor that blocks the passage of food through the digestive tract. Your health care team may suggest one or more of the following options:

• Stent: The doctor uses an endoscope to place a stent (a tube made of metal mesh or plastic) in your intestine. Food and liquid can pass through the center of the tube.
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy may help shrink the tumor that is blocking the intestine.
• Laser therapy: A laser is a concentrated beam of intense light that kills tissue with heat. The doctor uses an endoscope to place the laser in your digestive tract. The laser destroys the cancer cells blocking the digestive tract.

Pain
Cancer and its treatments may cause pain. Your health care team or a pain control specialist can suggest ways to relieve or reduce pain. Radiation therapy and pain medicine may help.

Follow-up care

You'll need regular checkups after treatment for stomach cancer. Checkups help ensure that any changes in your health are noted and treated if needed. If you have any health problems between checkups, you should contact your doctor.
Your doctor will check for return of the cancer. Also, checkups help detect health problems that can result from cancer treatment.
Checkups may include a physical exam, blood tests, x-rays, CT scans, endoscopy, or other tests. If you had surgery on the stomach, your doctor may order blood tests to check the levels of certain vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.

Sources of support

Learning that you have stomach cancer can change your life and the lives of those close to you. These changes can be hard to handle. It's normal for you, your family, and your friends to need help coping with the feelings that such a diagnosis can bring.
Concerns about treatments and managing side effects, hospital stays, and medical bills are common. You may also worry about caring for your family, keeping your job, or continuing daily activities.
Here's where you can go for support:

• Doctors, nurses, and other members of your health care team can answer questions about treatment, working, or other activities.
• Social workers, counselors, or members of the clergy can be helpful if you want to talk about your feelings or concerns. Often, social workers can suggest resources for financial aid, transportation, home care, or emotional support.
• Support groups also can help. In these groups, people with stomach cancer or their family members meet with other patients or their families to share what they have learned about coping with the disease and the effects of treatment. Groups may offer support in person, over the telephone, or on the Internet. You may want to talk with a member of your health care team about finding a support group.
• Information specialists at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) and at LiveHelp (http://www.cancer.gov/help) can help you locate programs, services, and publications. They can send you a list of organizations that offer services to people with cancer.

Stomach Cancer At A Glance

• Stomach cancer (gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and spread to other organs.
• The cause of stomach cancer is not known, but certain risk factors for stomach cancer have been identified.
• Stomach ulcers do not appear to increase a person's risk of developing stomach cancer.
• Symptoms of stomach cancer are often vague.
• Stomach cancer is diagnosed with a biopsy of stomach tissue during a procedure called an endoscopy.
• Treatment of stomach cancer depends on the size, location, and extent of the tumor, the stage of the disease, and the health of the patient.