Stomach cancer, diffuse

• Fact: Men are twice as likely as women to develop stomach cancer.
• Proportion of risk that’s in your genes: 28 percent.
• What you can do: Our genetic test can help you determine if you are at above-average risk for this disease, enabling you and your doctor to screen for it and be alert for the symptoms of diffuse stomach cancer. Treatments are more effective when the disease is detected early.
• Did you know? Stomach cancer is much more common in countries where people eat a diet high in smoked or pickled foods such as preserved fish or Korean kimchi.

Stomach cancer, sometimes known as gastric cancer, accounts for about three percent of all new cancer cases. The type for which Navigenics assesses risk, diffuse stomach cancer, is less common but has been on the rise.

Diffuse stomach cancer tends to affect most of the stomach. The cells of this type of cancer lack a protein that helps them stick together, making it easy for individual tumor cells to spread. A big part of risk is due to diet, something that you can control.

Diffuse stomach cancer is thought to result from a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors. Through a DNA test performed on a saliva sample, Navigenics can tell you whether you have an increased risk of diffuse stomach cancer. Because stomach cancer symptoms often do not surface until the disease is in an advanced and less treatable stage, it may be prudent to ask your physician whether regular screening for stomach cancer is right for you.

Fortunately, if your gene test results indicate you do have an increased genetic risk, healthy diet and lifestyle choices can go a long way toward preventing diffuse stomach cancer. Reduce your consumption of red meat and alcohol. Limit your intake of smoked, salted and pickled foods. Avoid nitrates and nitrites – substances found primarily in processed meats such as bologna and salami, and in cured meats including ham and bacon. Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, and avoid tobacco smoke.

You should also ask your doctor about being tested and, if necessary, treated for H. pylori, a bacterium that lives in the stomach and can be associated with ulcers, causing nausea, vomiting, bleeding and unintended weight loss. Many gastric ulcers are caused by this bacterium, and many doctors believe that treating the infection can help prevent stomach cancer as well.