A 60-year-old man presents with a burning sensation in his upper abdomen, early satiety, and an unintentional weight loss of 15 pounds over the past two months. He has a past medical history of peptic ulcer disease. What are the potential diagnoses and next steps?
While these symptoms could be due to peptic ulcer disease, alarm features such as significant weight loss and early satiety also raise the possibility of gastric malignancy. This patient should undergo prompt evaluation with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to visualize the gastric mucosa directly, and biopsies should be taken if any suspicious lesions are identified.