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- A woman who had a stomach ache and yellow eyes was diagnosed with cancer.
- Doctors wrote in a report that the eyes turning yellow is a “rare” first sign of stomach cancer.
- Early symptoms of stomach cancer include: bloating after eating, heartburn, and appetite loss.
A woman whose eyes went yellow was diagnosed with an advanced stomach cancer that killed her, according to a report.
The unnamed woman, 52, had experienced a stomach ache for three weeks and the whites of her eyes had turned yellow, doctors wrote in the report published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science on December 13.
She was also being sick, had lost weight, didn’t have an appetite, and felt more tired than usual, the doctors, who work in the US and India, wrote.
Yellow eyes is a sign of advanced stomach cancer
A series of tests revealed that the woman had a type of stomach cancer called a gastric adenocarcinoma. It had grown so much that it was compressing the tube that carries digestive juices between the stomach and the small intestine.
The blockage was causing a build-up of a yellowish substance, called bilirubin, which turned the woman’s eyes yellow. Gallstones and an inflamed pancreas can also block that passageway resulting in yellow eyes and skin.
The doctors wrote in the report that yellow eyes is a “rare” first symptom of stomach cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute, yellowing of the eyes and skin can be a sign of advanced stomach cancer, which may also cause: blood in poop, unexplained weight loss, vomiting, and trouble swallowing.
Earlier symptoms of the disease include: bloating after eating, heartburn, and appetite loss.
Stomach cancer accounts for about 1.5% of all new cancers diagnosed in the US yearly, according to the American Cancer Society. People are diagnosed at the age of 68, on average, and it is more common in men than women, it states.
Treatment depends on how far the cancer has spread
According to the National Cancer Institute, treatment options and how long someone with stomach cancer lives depends on how far the cancer has spread and the person’s general health. In this case, the woman had other health conditions, including high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Doctors treated the woman with surgery to ease her symptoms but not to cure it, called palliative surgery. The cancer had spread to her bowel so couldn’t be removed with surgery.
The woman was discharged home after the operation, but declined further treatment with chemotherapy and she died two months later, according to the report.
Around 26,380 new cases of stomach cancer will get diagnosed in 2022, and about 11,090 people will die from it, the American Cancer Society estimates.
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