After early gastric cancer surgery, multiple recurrences occurred within 10 years. Doctors: The key to preventing recurrence lies in 4 points

Gastric cancer is no longer a terminal illness, and some patients can resume normal life through comprehensive treatment. However, tumor diseases have a chance of recurrence. In clinical diagnosis, some patients have a high recurrence rate even if gastric cancer is discovered early and after treatment, they have achieved ideal results. Today, I will share with you a case of frequent recurrence of gastric cancer after surgery, in order to analyze the key issues in preventing gastric cancer recurrence.

Case sharing:
Mr. Wu, 48, had been suffering from stomach pain for a long time. After diagnosis at the hospital, he was diagnosed with early-stage gastric cancer, so he immediately underwent surgery. Mr. Wu's postoperative treatment was relatively ideal, and he immediately resumed his normal life. However, one year later, he was hospitalized again due to stomach pain, and the diagnosis was a recurrence of gastric cancer. As of 2019, Mr. Wu had been hospitalized 6 times for acute stomach pain, and the diagnosis was a recurrence of tumor. Fortunately, his condition did not continue to deteriorate and is still under control. After his most recent recurrence, Mr. Wu chose to be hospitalized for observation and treatment.
During the diagnosis and questioning process, Mr. Wu said that he strictly followed the doctor's instructions for diet and lifestyle, and did not stop taking the relevant medications prescribed by the doctor. So why did Mr. Wu's gastric cancer recur? We can find the answer from 4 key questions.

4 key issues in gastric cancer recurrence
1. Patients have low immunity <br/>Cancer patients will have low immunity due to the invasion of cancer cells, and some patients have always had low immunity. After surgery and drug treatment, both cancer cells and autoimmune cells are damaged. Even if the patient's gastric cancer is under control, the overall resistance is still very poor. This gives space for viruses and carcinogens to invade again, and gastric cancer is likely to recur.
2. Incomplete treatment of gastric cancer, the patient's cancerous constitution has not improved . The concept of cancerous constitution is not absolute, but it refers to a group of people who are more likely to develop cancer than normal people. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, states such as qi stagnation, qi deficiency, dampness obstruction, and blood stasis are all the basis for the onset of cancerous diseases. From the perspective of modern medicine, family heredity, disordered lifestyle, certain chronic diseases, or precancerous lesions that are prone to cancer are all cancerous constitutions. Then looking at the recurrence of gastric cancer, excluding lifestyle factors, family heredity and the presence of other chronic diseases are likely to be the key factors for frequent recurrence.

3. Biological characteristics of cancer cells <br/>Cancer cell biology usually refers to the comparison between malignancy and drug resistance. If gastric cancer is highly malignant, cancer cells are highly resistant to chemotherapy and therapeutic drugs, and the effect of clearing cancer cells in the body is poor, so it is easy to relapse. However, gastric cancer is less malignant and has a good effect of drug treatment, which can effectively inhibit the spread and growth of cancer cells in the patient's body, and the recurrence rate is low.
4. Advanced Gastric Cancer <br/>If the patient has developed advanced gastric cancer, the tumor may have penetrated the stomach wall, invaded the abdominal cavity and adjacent organs, such as the esophagus, intestinal system, liver, pancreas, etc., or metastasized to distant sites through lymphatic tissue. At this time, surgical treatment alone cannot achieve the desired effect. An unpredictable amount of cancer cell tissue remains in the patient's abdominal cavity or body, so recurrence may occur after surgery.

How to deal with the resurgence of gastric cancer?
Only after understanding the causes of gastric cancer recurrence can we provide treatment based on the specific situation.
1. For patients like Mr. Wu, whose condition is not deteriorating to a high degree, is not in the late stage, and who do not have bad living and eating habits, we should consider improving the body's immunity, and then conduct in-depth examinations to determine whether there are certain chronic diseases and provide active treatment, so as to stabilize the condition and reduce the chance of recurrence.
2. If you have a cancerous constitution, such as family heredity, qi stagnation, blood stasis, etc., improving your physical condition is the key issue. After surgical treatment, you can take anti-cancer drugs for a long time and undergo Chinese medicine conditioning.
3. If gastric cancer has deteriorated to a high degree and has spread and metastasized to a large area, patients should not lose confidence at this time. After surgical removal of the tumor, they should actively cooperate with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other treatments to eliminate the remaining cancer cells in the body. If it is local spread, local radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be performed.
In short, the treatment of gastric cancer and other tumor diseases is a long-term battle. Patients must have confidence and perseverance, go to a regular hospital to choose a reasonable and effective plan, actively cooperate with the doctor's treatment, and do a good job of adjusting their lifestyle and diet. There is still hope of defeating gastric cancer.