Digestive cancer: Causes, symptoms and preventive measures suggested by expert

Esophageal and gastric cancers are the cancers of your food pipe and your stomach. There are certain environmental risk factors like H. pylori is a bacterial infection. (Image: Canva)

Digestive cancer encompasses a range of cancers throughout the digestive tract, affecting various organs. It begins with esophageal cancer in the food pipe, progressing to gastric or stomach cancer. The small and large intestines are also susceptible, with colon cancer being a prominent example. Additionally, the liver and pancreas can develop cancer, completing the spectrum of main digestive tract cancers.

Understanding the various types and their locations within the digestive tract helps in recognising symptoms and seeking timely medical attention, ultimately enhancing the chances of successful treatment and better health outcomes. Dr Pooja Babbar, consultant, medical oncology, CK Birla hospital, Gurugram, lists down the main types of digestive cancer and suggests some preventive measures.

1. Colon cancer is now becoming the third most common cancer in males, and the incidence is increasing worldwide. Patients with a family history of colon cancer will have family members with a history of either hereditary colorectal syndromes or certain syndromes like adenomatous polyposis syndrome (FAP), MAP, or Lynch syndrome. These members inherit faulty genes from the family and those genes, and their genetic mutation is responsible for cancer.

2. If you have a positive family history of a particular cancer such as colon cancer, get yourself screened by an oncologist for early colonoscopies, yearly screening tests, genetic counseling, and testing for certain genetic mutations. Enhanced screening can be done for individuals with a positive family history of hereditary colorectal syndromes or sporadic colorectal cancer.

3. Esophageal and gastric cancers are the cancers of your food pipe and your stomach. There are certain environmental risk factors like H. pylori is a bacterial infection. Infection with this bacterium also causes gastric cancer. Ecological studies have suggested a strong association between the risk of gastric cancer with high intake of salt and traditional salt-preserved food like salted fish, salted vegetables, cured meat.

3. Pancreatic cancer is quite a lethal cancer. Diabetes, glucose, metabolism, and insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are some of its risk factors. There is a strong association between diabetes and pancreatic cancer. It has been seen that long term diabetic patients eventually develop pancreatic cancer and also, a newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patient eventually develops diabetes. Again, majority of the digestive tract cancer almost 90 percent are related to environmental risk factor, so by modifying the environmental factor we can actually reduce the risk.

4. Cancer of liver and intrahepatic biliary duct is the sixth most common diagnosed malignancy worldwide and it is the third most common cancer cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Coming back to infective causes, viral hepatitis is one of the most common risk factors, almost more than 90 percent of liver cancers are due to viral hepatitis. Chronic hepatitis B infection has been linked to increased risk of HCC. First, there is an infection, then this infection, which is called hepatitis changes to cirrhosis. Long-term untreated infection progresses to cirrhosis, and then cirrhosis leads to cancer. So, we have hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infection, which does not get cleared away and leads to a higher risk of HCC.

5. Again, some trials have shown that betel nut chewing is also a risk factor for cirrhosis. Then alcohol intake and cirrhosis has also been linked to HCC in many studies and higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages are also associated with liver cancer, obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes are all linked to hepatocellular carcinoma. It is very important to cover individuals with hepatitis B vaccination, which actually is protective against this infection.