The common cause for gastric cancer is smoking and alcoholic abuse. It has been definitely linked to gastric cancer. If there is a gastric ulcer, and if a biopsy is taken and it has proved to be H. pylori infection, there are quite good chances that this ulcer may become cancerous later in course of time. Patients with gastric cancer are generally above 50 years of age. They show symptoms of weight loss and loss of appetite.
Patients are also very anemic.
If this cancer has to be detected very early, one symptom that the physician can bank on are the symptoms of dyspepsia. Normally, the symptoms of dyspepsia just pass on. That is due to the reason that the symptoms of hyperacidity and early gastric cancer are the same. These are the people who are likely to harbor the H. pylori infection and they are probably the people who can get gastric cancer. Endoscopy is the only test that can help detect gastric cancer.