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Signs & Symptoms of a Stomach Cancer

Stomach cancer often feels like a mild stomach virus when it first starts to show symptoms. The gradual increase in the severity of symptoms is often overlooked by the people experiencing them, which is why stomach cancer is often not diagnosed until it is has advanced to the point of being very dangerous.

  1. Abdominal Pain

    • Because of the location of the stomach, the abdominal symptoms of stomach cancer are sometimes the first to appear. These include discomfort that could occasionally turn to severe pain, a noticeable bloating of the stomach after the person has consumed a meal, occasional bouts with indigestion after eating and heartburn that could appear after eating or at random times without warning and nausea that could lead to vomiting.

    Bleeding

    • At some point, stomach cancer may show itself through bleeding. Blood in the stool is the most common way for stomach cancer to show blood symptoms. It is also possible that the person suffering from stomach cancer may start vomiting blood as well.

    Changes in Diet

    • One of the symptoms of stomach cancer is a loss of appetite. The person may either lose the desire to eat, or she may feel completely full after only eating a small amount of food. Indigestion could be chronic and practically continuous. This will cause the person to lose the desire to eat. These changes in diet can lead to noticeable weight loss.

    Fluid Build-Up

    • A stomach cancer symptom that can sometimes go unnoticed for a long period of time is a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity around the stomach. The person may mistake this fluid buildup as a slight weight gain and allow the fluid to continue to build without bringing it to the attention of his doctor.

    Warning

    • The American Cancer Society says only about 20 percent of stomach cancer cases are diagnosed in their early stages. Early symptoms are not always noticeable, and people tend to ignore the symptoms until they become more severe. The American Cancer Society suggests that if any of the symptoms are noticed in any severity, the person should get to a doctor right away.

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