Gastric cancer, also called stomach cancer, remains one of the most formidable oncological pathologies of our time. Mainly affecting people over the age of 65, this disease has the insidious particularity of evolving silently for months, even years, before revealing its presence. Its initial symptoms, often banal and easily confused with simple digestive disorders, frequently delay the diagnosis and compromise the chances of healing.
The story of Alex Jade perfectly illustrates this medical reality where alarm signals can be minimized or misinterpreted, leading to a late diagnosis with potentially dramatic consequences.
A medical journey strewn with pitfalls
In April 2022, Alex Jade’s life switched after an ordinary meal. Taking “terrible” heartburn burns and a feeling of extreme satietythe young woman vomits and feels intense pains. These symptoms, which it first attributes to bile calculations, will persist for months.
Throughout the same month of April, Alex suffers from gastric pain accompanied by particularly violent stomach burns after meals but also in the morning. It also develops neck and back pain that simultaneously occur to digestive disorders. Faced with these symptoms, she consults and passes an ultrasound that does not reveal any bile calculation.
His general practitioner then evokes a gastroesophageal reflux and prescribed drugs that temporarily make symptoms disappear. But when she tries to renew his treatment, the practitioner suggests that he modify his lifestyle and turn to over -the -counter medicines, considering that her prescription should not be a long -term solution.
Alarming symptoms finally taken seriously
The return of the symptoms is this time accompanied by a deep exhaustion. Alex vomits regularly and feels a feeling of constant satiety which prevents him from eating properly. Determined to obtain answers, she asks to take in -depth examinations: endoscopy and colonoscopy.
The endoscopy reveals a “huge ulcer” in its stomach. Doctors decide to make a biopsy to rule out any risk of cancer. A few days later, in November 2022, the verdict fell: Alex suffered from gastric cancer of stage 4. Additional examinations reveal that the disease has spread to the wall of the abdomen, with the presence of cancer liquid in the abdominal cavity and an involvement of lymphatic lymph nodes.
After this diagnosis, Alex shared his story on social networks to educate other people about the symptoms of gastric cancer. She encourages young people to consult a doctor in case of sudden and persistent pain and not to hesitate to look for a second medical opinion, if the first practitioners do not take their symptoms seriously.
Gastric cancer: misleading symptoms and therapeutic advances
Gastric cancer affects approximately 6,600 new people each year in France, mainly men over the age of 65. Despite a drop since the 1980s, this disease remains the 13th cause of cancer mortality in the country with 4,300 deaths recorded in 2018. Globally, the figures are alarming: 1.92 million new cases in 2022, making this cancer the fourth more frequent in the world but the second cause of cancer death.
Symptoms of gastric cancer are particularly misleading because they look like benign digestive disorders. The most frequent signs include persistent gastric burns after meals, a feeling of early satiety, recurring nausea and unexplained weight loss. Fatigue, bloating and, in advanced stages, the presence of blood in the stool complement this clinical picture. These non -specific symptoms explain why many diagnoses are late, compromising the chances of healing.
Fortunately, medical research offers new hopes. Beyond conventional surgery and chemotherapy, targeted therapies are revolutionizing care. Trastuzumab, an antibody directed against the HER2 protein, significantly improves survival in more than 20 % of patients. Other promising molecules such as zolbetximab are being studied, as well as immunotherapy which begins to show its potential. These advances towards personalized medicine, adapted to the genetic characteristics of each tumor, suggest a more optimistic future for patients with gastric cancer.