All about gastrointestinal cancer- Is GI malignancy surgery safe?

 

Gastrointestinal cancer:

Malignant conditions which are related to the gastrointestinal tract have a collective term called Gastrointestinal Cancer. Cancer organs like the stomach, small intestine, oesophagus, pancreas, large intestine, rectum, and anus are included under this category. A laparoscopicsurgeon in Kolkata says that this can be found in both men and women.

Type of gastrointestinal cancers:

●        Stomach cancer – Stomach cancer or gastric cancer starts when the growth of cells in the stomach goes out of control.

●        Gall bladder cancer – Gall bladder is quite a small organ that stores bile that our liver produces. Gall bladder cancer is a common cancer in our country but and has a high survival rate if diagnosed early.

●        Pancreatic cancer – The pancreas is the organ that is found behind the lower part of our stomach. It releases enzymes to aid digestion and also it produces hormones to help manage our blood sugar. Various types of growth occur there that include cancerous tumors too. It is curable if diagnosed at right time.

●        Liver cancer – The liver is the largest internal organ of our body. It needs to function properly to remain healthy. Different types of cancer may form in our liver. The most common liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma that starts in liver cells called hepatocytes. Some other types of cancer are intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and hepatoblastoma etc.

●        Esophageal cancer – Esophagus is a long and, yellow tube that is situated inside our body; it runs from our throat to stomach. Esophageal cancer begins in the cells inside the esophagus.

●        Colon cancer – Colon cancer takes place in the large intestine (colon). At first, polyps form in the intestine and gradually some of those polyps turn into colon cancer.

●        Anal cancer – Anal cancer forms in the cells of the anus. Usually, anal cancer is related to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Anal cancer causes bleeding from the anus or rectum. It may cause a lump in the anus as well.

●        Rectal cancer – It starts in the rectum that is the last some inches of the large intestine.

Symptoms:

According to a GI malignancy surgeon in Kolkata, there are many symptoms for each GI cancer but some are common. Those include:

●        Feeling bloated

●        Fatigue

●        Abdominal pain

●        Loss of appetite

●        Heartburn

●        Rectal bleeding

●        Weight loss

●        Persistent indigestion

●        Intestinal obstruction

Diagnosis:

Modern technologies and advanced diagnosis options have made the diagnosis of cancer easier than before. Computerized tomography, endoscopy and X-ray are used to detect gastrointestinal cancers.

CT scan and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are used to determine the stage of GI cancers. These are imaging tests.

Treatments:

●        Surgery,

●        Chemotherapy, and

●        Radiation therapy 

These are the treatments for any kind of GI malignancy.

Why laparoscopic surgery?

People either go for open surgeries or laparoscopic ones. Laparoscopic surgery that has been introduced by medical science in the 1980s has more success rate and requires less time to recover. In recent times the scope of laparoscopy is increasing in the treatment of GI cancer. Dr. Arghya Basu, a laparoscopic surgeon in Kolkata has successfully operated and cured patients with severe types of cancer in the GI tract.