Even if one is a healthy person, he or she still needs to be on the lookout for various symptoms of cancer if they want to detect it in the initial stages itself.
This could boost a person's chances of beating the disease without any permanent damage to other organs of the body or with minimum damage.
Ignoring the symptoms could haunt that person later in the form of additional pain and discomfort while lowering chances of recovery.
Here are some of the symptoms that should not be ignored.
Different types of cancers The symptoms of cancer will depend on the type of cancer that the person has contracted.
There are different types of cancers that could attack a person's body in the form of tumors or even attack the body silently without any visible lumps.
Blood cancer or leukemia is one example where no tumors would be found.
Similarly, prostate cancer could start affecting local organs but might also spread to other organs away from the prostate such as the lungs, liver, etc.
There are also other forms of cancer such as lung, colon, stomach, pancreas, etc that affect the mentioned organs.
Often symptoms are also confused with other diseases and this might lead the doctor to a wrong treatment until it might have progressed into the next stage.
Some of the symptoms of cancer are mentioned below.
Symptoms of cancer If a heavy smoker or even a non-smoker starts coughing up blood then this could be a symptom of lung or neck cancer.
In the case of breast cancer, a lump might be noticed by the patient, which might increase in size quite rapidly.
There might also be a discharge from a single nipple.
Prostate cancer might walk in unnoticed or patients might also notice frequent urination or painful urination.
Blood present in urine could indicate cancer of the bladder or kidneys.
In case blood is present in the stool of the patient then it could indicate cancer of the rectum or of the intestines.
Repeated sores in the mouth could indicate oral cancer while repeated itching, warts or moles could be indicative of skin cancer.
Patients need to visit their doctor as soon as they notice any changes in their body or in their daily routines.
There are several ways through which a doctor might check a patient to confirm if the symptoms of cancer are indeed present in the patient.
Methods of checking a patient to confirm symptoms of cancer Doctors might use various testing methods to confirm if the patient is indeed suffering from cancer.
In case of visible tumors, a biopsy would indicate if the tumor is indeed malignant or benign.
Blood tests, Pap smear tests, stool and urine tests are some of the other tests to check for specific proteins or other agents that might indicate cancer.
A doctor might conduct an endoscopy or colonoscopy to check for tumors inside a patient's stomach, colon or intestine.
An MRI scan could also show tumors or abnormalities in a patient and help the doctor locate the exact position of the cancer.
There are many symptoms of cancer that manifest themselves but might end up getting confused with other diseases.
Any change in routine should immediately be reported to a competent doctor and the necessary tests should be conducted to either get peace of mind or to catch the cancer in the nascent stage itself.