Cancer is a disease in which a group of body cells become independent of the organism. These cells are out of control, change their size and shape and what is worse, begin to multiply and grow without any order or brake. The stomach, like most of the organs of the body, is composed of different cell types: an inner lining of cells that produce mucus and acids for digestion, an intermediate layer based on an outer muscle and called serosa.
Tumors occur when a particular type of these cells (mucosa, muscular or serosa) begins to multiply and grow on their own. They can be:
* Benign: they grow slowly and do not destroy nearby organs or spread to other parts of the body. Sometimes you do not need treatment or can be removed easily.
* Malignant cells grow more aggressively, invade and destroy what they have around and are also capable of reaching remote areas of the body (metastasis). (more…)
