Ricardo Israel Sánchez Becerra Agencia Reforma
MEXICO CITY, July 30, 2023 – Heartburn, indigestion and abdominal pain have been going on for some time, and once again quick relief with bedside antacids seems to be the only solution. Is it real?
Unfortunately, chronic self-medication and drug abuse to manage gastritis and reflux can actually mask serious health problems, such as stomach cancer.
Argentinian doctor Juan Manuel O’Connor, a clinical oncologist, confirmed in a remote interview that “we now know that[self-medication]is one of the factors that delays the diagnosis of this cancer.” factor.”
As with any cancer, the earlier it is detected, the better the prognosis. However, because the symptoms of this upper gastrointestinal malignancy are confused with simple stomach problems, patients are not diagnosed until the disease has progressed, and then their chances of survival are reduced to a few months.
“In general, the aim of screening or early detection programs is to detect cancer before symptoms appear; (…) we try to detect it early but wait for the disease to develop for a period of time. Symptoms are usually nonspecific.
“Abdominal pain, pain in the stomach, digestive disturbances, changes in habits – namely early satiety – are all symptoms that may be associated with (stomach cancer), but in some cases it is due to the disease Buenos Aires, Argentina Added A. O’Connor, director of the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Fleming Institute.
In Mexico, 6,000 to 8,000 new cases of these tumors are diagnosed each year (ranking them as one of the 10 leading causes of cancer death), and it has been noted that 70% of these patients present at an advanced stage. Introduced by Armando Ramírez Ramírez, an oncologist at Juárez Hospital.
Although the development of immunotherapy has begun to change the treatment paradigm for gastric cancer—often treated with surgery plus radiation and chemotherapy—O’Connor insists on advocating preventive action, allowing patients to come to the doctor with suspicion and doctors to correctly interpret your condition. Health status.
“So, if there is indeed cancer, people can catch it early, rather than that person going through two, three, four doctors and causing a delay in diagnosis,” the expert concluded.
unwelcome tenant
In addition to age, genetic predisposition and dietary habits (a diet high in salt and smoked foods and low in fruits and vegetables), infection with Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that can cause gastric cancer, is also a major risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. Chronic gastritis.
“There are different types of tumors with an infection-related oncogenic or developmental model where chronic inflammation precisely explains part of the development of tumor cells or cell proliferation because it creates a favorable microenvironment for it,” details the clinical oncologist Douan Manuel O’Connor.
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is estimated to cause 65% to 80% of gastric cancer cases, so early detection and treatment are important precautions to prevent these tumors, which can grow through the stomach wall and invade near the stomach. organ.
“If a person has symptoms such as heartburn, burning sensation, pain, and these symptoms cannot be improved and controlled with conventional treatments, it is imperative to see a doctor so that he can be told and assessed whether the person is at risk of developing the disease .Helicobacter pylori infection”, advises the doctor.
“The most important research is upper endoscopy, which sometimes allows us to detect or assess the presence of early lesions, as well as to detect whether we have H. Said.
build an international alliance
Increasing awareness of gastric cancer risk factors through educational materials and reducing time to diagnosis through specialized training on signs and symptoms are part of the efforts of the international LEGACy project.
“This is a collaborative project that enables European countries to work together with Latin America to identify risk factors, to understand what our population looks like, what differences there are, what we can do for primary prevention, secondary prevention and in relation to treatment
Juan Manuel O’Connor, an Argentinian physician and Latin coordinator, said: “[This move]allows us, precisely, to study our population better and prepare for the future. Create policies that work in countries with the highest rates of disease to reduce mortality.” United States of America, LEGACY Project.
Launched four years ago with an investment of nearly 3.6 million euros, the project brings together 11 research institutes and university centers from nine countries in the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC): Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium , Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Mexico.
The country’s participation in LEGACy, through the National Cancer Institute (INCAN) and experts such as oncologist Erika Ruiz García, also includes a series of analyzes to better understand this type of cancer.
“Blood samples, saliva samples, characterization of molecular parts, microbiomes are being studied to find these differences and in the future through this collaborative group to develop different policies based on knowledge,” O’Connor said. It is an independent project of the pharmaceutical industry.
“The study will end in four years,” he continued. “The recruitment phase has ended and these patients will now be analyzed to gain a precise understanding of differential characteristics.”