Your stomach is an organ of the digestive tract having the shape of a bag. Its inner wall is lined by glandular cells that secrete acids and enzymes during digestion of food. The stomach is located between the esophagus and the first portion of the intestine. It receives foods from the esophagus through an opening called cardia. Once in the stomach, foods are broken apart and thoroughly mixed with gastric acid, and then passed through another passage called pylorus. This very important organ can be affected by many medical conditions, among which cancer.
Stomach cancer is a malignancy that develops in the tissues of the stomach. Your stomach may be subject to several types of cancers; however, in most cases, the primary cancer of the stomach is an adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer develops in the cells of the glands of the mucous membrane layer of the stomach. Although rare, a cancerous growth can begin in any part of the stomach: lymph tissue (lymphoma) or muscle (sarcomas) of the stomach (see types of stomach cancer).