Some of the symptoms of cancer are:
- Unexplained weight loss:
- Fever:
- Fatigue:
- Pain:
- Skin changes:
Most people tend to lose weight at time of cancer. When a person loses weight for no reason, it categorises under unexplained weight loss. The first sign of cancer may be loss of 10 pounds or more. Unexplained weight loss occurs mainly in cancers of the pancreas, stomach, oesophagus or lung.
One of the most common things in cancer is fever. Generally this happens after the cancer has spread through the body from the point of its start. In some cases of cancer like blood cancer, fever appears in the initial stage. Fever makes it difficult for the body to fight with diseases and the treatment affects the immune system.
Extreme tiredness that does not improve even with rest is known as fatigue. It is one of the important symptoms during the growth of cancer.
An early symptom of cancer could be pain in the body .Extreme head pains that do not go even with medication are symptoms of brain tumor. Most of the cancer pains indicate that it has already spread in the body.
Along with skin cancer; there can be some visible skin change symptoms of cancer. These can be-Hyper pigmentation or skin darkening, jaundice or yellowish skin, puritis or itching and excessive hair growth or excessive hair loss.
Apart from these symptoms there are also some common signs and symptoms which could mean cancer. They are:
- Change in bowel habits or bladder function:
- Sores that do not heal:
- Unusual bleeding or discharge:
- Thickening or lump in the breast or other parts of the body:
- Trouble in swallowing or indigestion:
- Recent change in a wart or mole or any new skin change:
- Nagging cough or hoarseness:
A sign of colon cancer could be change in the size of stool or when drops of blood are noticed in stool or urine and pain while passing urine. If these signs are noticed, immediately a doctor should be consulted as these symptoms could indicate prostate or colon cancer.
In case of skin cancers, sores might bleed and not heal. Sores in the mouth for a long time could indicate oral cancer. Sores in the vaginal area should be immediately consulted by a health professional.
This could indicate kidney cancer or breast cancer depending on the bleeding from which part of the body. This could mean kidney cancer or lung cancer or breast cancer. The bleeding area should be immediately shown to a doctor and the symptom should not be ignored.
Generally or mostly cancers are felt through skin. A lump or thickening in some parts of the body may be a symptom of an early stage of cancer.
Indigestion or swallowing problems that don’t go away may be signs of cancer of the oesophagus or pharynx (throat). But like most symptoms, they are most often caused by something other than cancer.
Any wart, mole, or freckle that changes colour, size, or shape, or that loses its sharp border should be seen by a doctor right away. A skin change may be a melanoma which, if found early, can be treated successfully.
A cough that does not go away may be a sign of lung cancer. Again, cough for a longer time could also mean anything other than cancer like tuberculosis.
