Stomach Cancer
Mount Sinai has extensive experience treating stomach cancer. Our rigorous collaborative medical and surgical approach ensures that you receive a customized treatment plan. Our surgeons collaborate with doctors who specialize in advanced gastroenterology—the caring for and treating of the digestive system, that runs from the mouth to the anus, and includes the stomach.
While rare, stomach cancer is serious when it occurs, and we offer clinical trials of new therapies that hold promise for your stomach cancer.
About Stomach Cancer
Stomach cancer usually begins in the mucus-producing cells that line the stomach. As experts in advanced gastroenterology, we use an endoscopic ultrasound and fine needle aspiration, when appropriate, to ensure an accurate staging determination. Once this thorough evaluation is complete, our surgeons collaborate with colleagues in medical oncology to construct a plan that will help ensure the best possible outcome for you.
We are able to assess your condition with an endoscopic ultrasound and fine needle aspiration, as appropriate, to stage your cancer—determining the status of your tumor for the best possible outcome.
Procedures we perform
Our surgeons are expert at performing the following procedures to treat stomach cancer:
- Distal gastrectomy— used when the tumor is located towards the exit of the stomach, this procedure removes approximately half of the stomach to ensure that the entire tumor is gone. We then reattach the intestine to the remaining stomach, allowing normal food intake and digestion.
- Subtotal or total gastrectomy—removes most of the stomach or the entire stomach to ensure that the cancer is gone, when the tumor is located higher in the stomach. A nutritionist will consult with you about how you can maintain a healthy diet.
- Laparoscopic gastrectomy— this minimally invasive surgery uses smaller incisions for early stage stomach cancer or a less aggressive type of stomach tumor. Generally allows patients a shorter hospital stay with quicker recovery times and minimal scarring.
- Regional lymphadenectomy—removes lymph nodes surrounding the stomach to maximize accurate staging of gastric cancer.
Our goal is always to eliminate the cancer and provide you with the highest possible quality of life following your procedure.