Gastric Cancer Prognosis

Gastric cancer affects the stomach, an organ vital to the digestive system. Because stomach cancer may spread for years before detection, it rarely causes symptoms until it is in advanced stages. It is important to know the prognosis for these stages in case stomach cancer ever affects you personally.

Stage 0

• During Stage 0, abnormal cells have just been found. The 5-year survival rate for patients during this stage is 89 percent.

Stage I

• In Stage I, the cancer is beginning to spread throughout the stomach. The 5-year survival rate decreases to between 58 percent and 78 percent.

Stage II

• The 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed during Stage II is 34 percent. Lymph nodes may be affected at this point.

Stage III

• If the cancer is found at Stage III, the patient's 5-year survival rate is between 8 percent and 20 percent. Most likely, the cancer has spread beyond the stomach to over a dozen lymph nodes.

Stage IV

• During Stage IV of stomach cancer, the cancer has likely spread to other parts of the body. The 5-year survival rate for a patient is 7 percent.