Patient's question:
The child's grandfather often has stomach discomfort, cannot eat much, and frequently vomits undigested food. After a thorough examination, it was diagnosed as gastritis, but if not treated properly, it may worsen over time. He consulted several doctors and asked how long gastritis can develop into gastric cancer?Doctor's answer:
Gastritis does not necessarily develop into gastric cancer; many cases of gastritis will never transform into gastric cancer. From gastritis to gastric cancer, the first step is the stomach's mucosa experiencing inflammation again, undergoing abnormal changes, and then a single cancer cell appearing to form a gastric cancer lesion. Although the process from gastritis to gastric cancer only involves three steps, the journey from gastritis to gastric cancer is very distant and lengthy. Additionally, chronic atrophic gastritis is more prone to transforming into gastric cancer.