This is a story about five gentlemen with a rare genetic mutation that confers a very high risk of stomach cancer. Yes! Dr. David G. Huntsman of
This is a story about five gentlemen with a rare genetic mutation that confers a very high risk of stomach cancer. Yes! Dr. David G. Huntsman of the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada and colleagues report on five members of two families with a rare form of hereditary gastric cancer caused by a mutation of the E-cadherin gene. These people had a very bad family history with deaths related to stomach cancer.
On this basis these members were taken in for the study and after thorough counselling they underwent surgical removal of stomach. "The somehow surprising and medically fascinating observation was that all five cases had small gastric cancers in the removed stomach, which were detected after very thorough pathological examination," said co-author Dr. Carlos Caldas of the University of Cambridge in the UK. Hence it is rather curative than preventive."Nevertheless, what we are learning about gastric cancer in these rare families might provide clues about how gastric cancer starts and therefore might help in the future, for example in screening and early treatment of gastric cancers in general," Caldas said. "What should be emphasized to the general public is that although gastric cancer is still very common, these are very rare families," Caldas told.
Inspite of the fact, living without a stomach and their eating habits had to be adjusted such preventive measure has to be emphasised. Hence the patients with strong family history should discuss this with their family physician and must come up with an earliest intervention.
Hence the prime modality to prevent deaths from cancer is by targeting the high risk individuals as this study goes.
