The stomach is a stretchy, muscular bag, which stores food and helps to break it down (digestion). It is in the upper left-hand side of the tummy area (abdomen). An adult’s stomach is about 25cm long, but can expand to hold about 1 litre of food. The stomach is at the bottom of the foodpipe (oesophagus) and the other end of the stomach is joined to the bowel.
The stomach has three main parts, they are the:
- top (fundus)
- middle (body)
- bottom (antrum or pylorus)
At each end of the stomach there is a valve called a sphincter. These valves control the movement of food through the digestive system. These are called the:
- cardiac sphincter - at the top joining the oesophagus to the stomach
- pyloric sphincter - which is at the bottom joining the stomach to the bowel
Cancer that develops in the stomach is called stomach cancer or sometimes gastric cancer. The risk of developing stomach cancer increases as we get older. Over half of the people who get Stomach cancer are 75 years or older. Stomach cancer is more common in men than in women.
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