Stomach cancer is a disease that occurs under the influence of both genetic and environmental factors and is very common among the society. If there is no obstruction in the stomach outlet, symptoms will be detected very late and therefore treatment will be delayed. Being late in treatment significantly affects the survival time in stomach cancer, as in all cancers. Therefore, early diagnosis is very important to prolong survival. For this purpose, it is of great importance to have screening endoscopy at the age of 50 and above, where stomach cancer is more common. Of course, this screening endoscopy should be performed after the age of 30 in people who have a genetic family history of stomach cancer. In countries with endemic stomach cancer, screening endoscopy is applied to the entire population. For example, in Japan, stomach cancer is detected at a very early stage, when it is in the most superficial layer of the epithelium lining the stomach, that is, before it metastasizes to any neighboring or distant organs, and with surgical treatments performed during this period, lives are saved and deaths from stomach cancer are reduced to a very low level. As in all hollow organ cancers, the disease in stomach cancer is in the uppermost layer of the epithelium covering the inner surface of the stomach in the early stages. During this period, the disease found locally does not spread to distant organs. The treatment success rate for stomach cancer patients treated during this period is over 95%. For this purpose, as a surgeon who has worked at an Oncology Training and Research Hospital for years, my advice is to have an endoscopy without hesitation. If endoscopy is hesitant, it is vital to at least have a virtual endoscopy in a very good center.

Biopsies taken after this stage are sent to pathology. According to the pathology result, if the result is cancer, staging imaging tests, called PET-CT, are performed to determine whether the patient has spread to distant organs. Then, all the examinations and the patient himself are evaluated in front of a council consisting of doctors from various specialties related to oncology, which we call the tumor council, and the most appropriate treatment is decided. As a surgeon who has served oncology patients for many years, we apply the most accurate treatment in the most successful way. The classic but proverbial slogan that we should understand: Early diagnosis saves lives. Cancer is no joke, one should not waste time with alternative medicine, and one should not rely on unknown treatments in underdeveloped countries across the ocean. I wish you all healthy days free from cancer.