Symptoms of stomach cancer

Early stomach cancer often causes few or vague symptoms, which is why it is frequently found late. Knowing the warning signs and acting on them early makes a real difference.

Early and common symptoms

• Persistent indigestion, heartburn or discomfort in the upper abdomen that does not settle
• Feeling full quickly when eating (early satiety)
• Poor appetite and unintended weight loss
• Mild nausea, sometimes with vomiting
• A vague sense of bloating after meals

Later symptoms

• Trouble swallowing, especially with cancers near the food pipe junction
• Persistent vomiting, sometimes of blood
• Black, tarry stools from bleeding inside the stomach
• Anemia: tiredness, weakness, pale skin and breathlessness
• Pain in the upper abdomen
• Swelling of the abdomen from fluid (ascites) in advanced disease
• A lump that can sometimes be felt in the upper abdomen
• Swollen lymph node above the left collarbone in some advanced cases

Why early review matters These symptoms are common in harmless conditions like gastritis and ulcers too, so they are easy to dismiss. The key is persistence: symptoms lasting more than two to three weeks, worsening, or occurring with weight loss, anemia or bleeding deserve an endoscopy, especially over age 40.

Ayurvedic view (interpretive) Texts describe chronic digestive disturbance, loss of appetite and wasting in serious abdominal disease. This is descriptive only; endoscopy and biopsy are how cancer is diagnosed.

When to see a doctor Persistent indigestion over two to three weeks, unintended weight loss, vomiting blood, black stools or trouble swallowing. Call 112 for heavy vomiting of blood or collapse.

Remember Persistent indigestion with weight loss or bleeding needs an endoscopy without delay.