Doctors caution after Toby Keith's passing that it is simple to overlook stomach cancer indications

Doctors caution after Toby Keith's passing that it is simple to overlook stomach cancer indications

Doctors caution after Toby Keith's passing that it is simple to overlook stomach cancer indications

According to doctors, heartburn and acid reflux are typical symptoms, but they don't always show up right away.

More than two years after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, country music artist Toby Keith passed away on Monday night at the age of 62.

Keith revealed on X in June 2022 that he had been diagnosed in 2021 and had undergone radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery.

Then, in June of last year, he reported to Oklahoma City's The Oklahoman newspaper that his tumor had decreased by one-third and that he was still receiving chemotherapy. He said that he also got immunotherapy, which is medicine that stimulates the immune system to eliminate cancer cells.

The signs of stomach cancer, which include heartburn, acid reflux, anemia, nausea, ulcers, discomfort after eating, abrupt weight loss, or modest amounts of weight loss, have been brought up again after his death. It is the sensation of being full after eating.

"A large number of them are very safe. But cancer impacts you in that manner, for sure, according to Dr. Fabian Johnston, head of the Johns Hopkins Medicine section of gastrointestinal oncology.

According to Johnson, diagnosing conditions like acid reflux could take longer when physicians and people write them off as inconsequential. According to him, many people's diseases have advanced by the time symptoms show up.

Men are somewhat more likely to be diagnosed than women, with an average age of 68.

Although colon cancer is still a relatively uncommon disease—roughly 1.5% of all new cancer diagnoses in the US are of this type—the American Cancer Society predicts that 27,000 new cases will be detected this year.

Over the last ten years, there has also been a modest decrease in the overall incidence of colon cancer diagnosis. However, rates are growing among those under 50, but it's unclear why.

At the Dana-Farber Institute for Cancer Research in Boston, gastrointestinal medical oncologist Dr. Ben Schleicher stated, "There's something that's going on — something we're eating, an aspect we're eating, some combination of factors that are modern as well as current — that is resulting in cancer expanding among young people."

According to Schleicher, tobacco and alcohol were historically major causes of colon cancer but are now associated with a small percentage of instances in the United States, maybe as a result of reduced smoking rates.

Rather, a high number of new instances are discovered in patients suffering from persistent acid reflux or Helicobacter pylori infection, which may inflame the stomach. But why some individuals with the disease get stomach cancer while the majority do not remains a mystery to experts.

Currently, "it's a disease of bad luck" for many individuals, according to Schleicher. There might be a connection to H. pylori infection. Heartburn or reflux may run in the family, although it's typically not that noticeable."

According to Schleicher, colon cancer tends to be more aggressive than other types of cancer.

"It just means that the tools we have to fix them are very limited," he added, adding that this does not imply that people are dying quickly. "People are doing much better than they were 15 years ago, although we're barely at the carcinoma of the breast level, where most people are cured using surgery and chemotherapy and things like that."

Adenocarcinomas, which start in the stomach's deepest layer, account for up to 95% of stomach cancer cases in the US. From there, cancer may go to lymph nodes, the stomach's body, or its wall.

According to Dr. Rutika Mehta, a medical oncologist in the gastrointestinal oncology division at Moffitt disease Center in Tampa, Florida, patients whose disease has not spread often undergo or get chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of these choices.

"We are not yet at the point where we can 'cure' patients in more advanced cases," Mehta emailed. He did add, however, that immunotherapy or chemotherapy could help extend life.

Additionally, physicians are becoming more adept at matching patients with therapies that specifically target proteins linked to colon cancer. For instance, a gene known as HER2, which is also connected to breast cancer, is expressed in some stomach tumors.

"Medications that treat HER2 breast cancer also treat HER2 gastric cancer to some degree. Thus, we may now provide such medications to individuals suffering from colon cancer, greatly enhancing their therapeutic value," Schleicher said.

He said that although the disease's results are "generally bad," they are "much better than before.”