Name: Sreejith Menon
Location: Kochi
Question: Does the consumption of taste enhancers like MSGs cause stromal tumors? what are the other food chemicals that can be avoided?
Answer:MSG is not directly linked to stromal tumors. There have been a lot of concerns about MSG being a carcinogen-a substance that causes cancer. Scientists have shown over the years that this is not carcinogenic. However, it is advisable to not have MSGs in excess in your diet. There are other food ingredients that may be carcinogenic but what is most common to us and has been advocated by the IAR- International Agency for Cancer Research, a part of the WHO has said that salted foods which are rich in nitroamines, for e.g., cured meat, salted fish could be carcinogenic. So, the message is to try to cut down all additives in your diet, have food as close to how nature made it. Now we add salt to our food which is also not good as it may lead to heart ailments.
Name: Ravi Patil
Location: Pune
Question: What are the foods that can be avoided for stromal tumor and what are the foods that need to be taken to prevent stromal cancer?
Answer:Same as above
Name: Chandra
Location: Mumbai
Question: Does constipation contribute to GIST?
Answer:No not necessarily. Constipation could be due to major gastrointestinal cancers where the transit time in the intestines becomes slow.
Name: Deepak R
Location: Kolkata
Question: What are the initial symptoms of GIST? How common is this cancer?
Answer: GIST is not a common tumor. They are relatively rare tumors. But they are the most common mesenchymal gastrointestinal tumors. Usually, these occur in the stomach and the intestine and therefore, all symptoms are related to these 2 organs or the area where it initially occurs. About a third of GIST cases are discovered accidentally. For example, if you go for an endoscopy, it may be picked up by the endoscopist or even during consultations with gynecologist or prostate doctors. But given that they occur in the gastrointestinal tract, it depends on the size to which it grows before symptoms show up.
Small GISTs may only cause dyspepsia-one may feel bloated, experience indigestion and cause colicky pain in the stomach. Sometimes, it may grow to large dimensions that means one can feel a mass in the abdomen. If it is in the intestine, it can cause intestinal obstruction & constipation. If they grow further, they can ulcerate and bleed and cause symptoms similar to those of an ulcer. So by and large most of the gastrointestinal symptoms are related to location and size and predominantly related to the gastrointestinal tract.
Name: Privil Samson
Location: Bangalore
Question: Is GIST hereditary? If so, is there anything a person at risk of GIST can do to delay or avoid getting it?
Answer:There are 2 types of GISTs. One is hereditary and occurs in families and can be associated with certain syndromes. Occasionally they may be associated with neurofibromatosis but more often they are hereditary and run with certain syndromes. The majority of GISTs occur due to changes at the gene level and chromosomes. We call this gain of functional mutation in axon 11 of the CKIT proto-oncogene. These factors are even used in the treatment of GISTs. One can prevent complications by getting a regular health checkup done to diagnose these tumors or cancers at an early stage.
Name: Aziz Mahi
Location: Mumbai
Question: How can one differentiate between GIST or any other gastrointestinal diseases?
Answer:It is difficult to distinguish between between a GIST and other gastrointestinal diseases or cancers. Usually, these tumors are diagnosed and have typical features on endoscopy and on radiology. So its difficult for a patient himself to distinguish between them. But as has been said before GISTs are asymptomatic or non specific. The more major gastrointestinal cancers cause bleeding and symptoms like intestinal obstruction, jaundice and various other problems.
Name: Shafiq Basheer
Location: Jaipur
Question: Does diet play a role in GIST?
Answer:No diet does not play a role in the occurrence of GIST.
Name: Athreya Dinakar
Location: Mumbai
Question: Can IBS be a sign/symptom of Gastrointestinal stromal tumor?
Answer:IBS is not a sign/symptom of GIST. However, gastrointestinal side effects can occur in GIST such as constipation, diarrhea, obstructions and dyspepsia which may be attributed to IBS type of syndromes. As said before, it is difficult to differentiate between GIST & gastrointestinal diseases and tumors that are occurring due to other causes like adenocarcinoma of the intestine.
