How is stomach cancer diagnosed?

Most of the time, you begin diagnosing stomach cancer by seeing your family doctor. Sometimes people are diagnosed with stomach cancer after being admitted to hospital with a symptom that is making them feel sick. Sometimes blood tests can also be used to detect stomach cancer. A complete count on a CBC is ordered to determine whether there is anemia, as a result of internal bleeding.

If there is blood in the stools, a fecal occult blood test is usually ordered. Different imaging tests are also used for stomach cancer like upper gastrointestinal series, endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography or CT/CAT scan, magnetic resonance MRI scan, positron emission tomography or PET scan and a chest x-ray. Each of these tests uses different methods to detect possible cancer growth in the stomach. Laparoscopy is also sometimes used to determine the size of the tumor.