Everything There Is to Know About Stage 4 Stomach Cancer

Stage 4 stomach (gastric) cancer is cancer that has spread from the gastric mucosa to areas around the stomach and/or distant organs in your body, such as the liver or lungs.

This stage is defined by metastases, which occurs when cancer cells break off from the primary tumor, enter your lymphatic system or bloodstream and spread to other organs. For this reason, doctors also call it metastatic or advanced stomach cancer.

If the cancer has spread to any distant region of the body, regardless of whether deeper layers of the stomach wall or nearby lymph nodes are affected, it will be classified as stage 4.

If you have stage 4 stomach cancer, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Bloody stools
• Nausea and vomiting
• Unintentional or sudden weight loss
• Difficulty swallowing and eating
• Severe abdominal pain
• Jaundice (yellowing of eyes and/or skin)
• Ascites (fluid buildup in your abdomen)

If the cancer has spread to distant organs like the liver or bone, you may experience difficulty breathing or bone pain.

If you have the above symptoms or a family history of stomach cancer, your doctors may suspect that you have the disease. Subsequently, they will order a series of diagnostic tests to confirm whether you have gastric cancer. These tests may include endoscopic procedures, like an upper endoscopy, and imaging scans, like a computed tomography (CT).

Related: Tests and scans to diagnose and stage stomach cancer

Stage 4 stomach cancers are usually difficult to cure. This is because the disease is no longer confined to the stomach and involves distant organs.

In these circumstances, doctors may not be able to cure the cancer completely. However, they can treat it to control symptoms, relieve blockages, and curb cancer progression. This is known as palliative care.

Depending on factors like your overall health and the genetic characteristics of the cancer, your doctors may recommend different therapies. These include palliative surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Combining any of these treatments can help them work better.

Because advanced stomach cancers can be hard to treat, many cancer therapies are currently being tested in clinical trials to see if they are safe and effective or better than the standard treatments. These trials can offer groundbreaking new treatments or improve current treatments for stomach cancer.

Apart from the therapies above, you may require supplemental care in the form of nutritional supplements, pain relievers, or other drugs and medications to help you manage other symptoms or treatment-related side effects.

According to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, the overall five-year survival rate for all stages of stomach cancer is 36%. The five-year relative survival rate for metastatic stomach cancer is 7%. These numbers come from people diagnosed with stomach cancer between 2013 and 2019.

These survival statistics are only estimates that describe trends in large groups of people previously diagnosed with stomach cancer. They cannot be used to predict exactly what will happen to you, as each individual case is unique and different. These estimates also don’t take into account factors that can affect your prognosis, such as your age, overall health and response to treatment.

On top of that, relative survival rate statistics are usually measured every five years. This means that current estimates may not accurately reflect the effects of recent advancements in the field of cancer treatment and diagnosis. However, thanks to innovative new treatments, people with advanced gastric cancer are experiencing better and longer lives than those diagnosed years ago.

Most importantly, your doctors and cancer care team are the best sources of information about your condition and they are always available to answer any questions about stage 4 stomach cancer. Do not hesitate to consult them if you have any concerns or need additional support.