Occasionally, a tumor may develop in the lymph tissue or in the muscles of the stomach walls. Individuals in their 60s and 70s represent the largest population of people with stomach cancer. Men are twice as likely as women to get stomach cancer. Because stomach cancer has few symptoms, only 10 to 20 percent of this cancer is diagnosed before it has spread to other sites. Dietary changes are highly suspected.
Stomach cancer is now the ninth leading cause of death in men and the eleventh in women.
Back to Top Therapy Surgery is the only chance of cure for stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer or gastric carcinoma. For the 20 percent of patients identified with early-stage disease, surgery may provide a complete cure. More frequently, the cancer has progressed. How much of the stomach is resected depends on the extent of tumor involvement. Surrounding lymph nodes may also be removed.