The first symptoms of cancer can usually indicate many other minor diseases and are easy to ignore. Therefore, mobilize yourself to regular preventive examinations so as not to miss the initial stage of the cancer. Watch your body signals as it could save your life. Check what to look for and which symptoms may indicate the development of individual cancers.

The symptoms of cancer are not always obvious, it is easy to blame unpleasant ailments on stress, fatigue or trivial he alth disorders. That is why it is worth paying attention to body signals and, of course, without hypochondria, regularly consult your doctor.

Cancer - symptoms

The following ailments may not appear at all in many diseases, although the neoplastic cells divide and the undetectable tumor grows (e.g. in the pancreas, ovary, kidneys). That is why regular examinations are so important!

  • cervical cancer: bloody discharge, lower abdominal and lower back pain, painful urination
  • endometrial cancer: bleeding, pain
  • brain cancer: unsteady gait, worsening headaches, slurred speech, nausea, paresis
  • breast cancer: any changes to the shape and color of the breast or nipple, painless or slightly painful lump, discharge from the nipple
  • prostate cancer: pelvic pain, pollakiuria, weak, intermittent stream of urine, pain during voiding
  • lung cancer: chest or shoulder pain, dry cough, wheezing, coughing up blood, frequent pneumonia
  • stomach cancer: weight loss, constant satiety, vomiting, bleeding, black stools
  • pancreatic cancer: pain, weight loss, jaundice (extremely non-specific symptoms, appear late)
  • colorectal cancer: abdominal discomfort, weight loss, changes in bowel movements, blood in the stool (strongly black)
  • bladder cancer: frequent urination, pressure on the bladder, pain, hematuria
  • kidney cancer: pain in the back or side, a palpable lump, hematuria, sometimes an increase in blood pressure
  • ovarian cancer: lower abdominal discomfort, abnormal bleeding, abdominal enlargement
  • melanoma: changes in shape, color, enlargement or bleeding of moles and warts
  • lymphoma: enlarged lymph nodes (does not decrease after 2weeks of treatment), fever, anemia, weight loss, night sweats
  • leukemia: anemia, weight loss, frequent infections, frequent bleeding, weakness

Do you have suspicious symptoms? Do preventive examinations

  • Breast ultrasound - uses the ultrasound wave to detect millimeter lumps in the breasts.
  • Mammography - X-ray of the breast with small doses of radiation. It allows you to recognize neoplasms on average less than 0.5 cm.
  • Cervical cytology - microscopic examination of exfoliated epithelium taken from the vagina and cervix. It allows you to recognize cervical cancer early.
  • Colonoscopy - using a flexible speculum inserted through the rectum, the condition of the inner wall of the large intestine is assessed and, in the event of an early form of cancer, it can be removed immediately.
  • Rectal Examination - Finger examination through the anus of the prostate gland. Detects enlarged prostate, rectal cancer, hemorrhoids.
  • Chest X-ray - the cheapest method of lung cancer detection. Sometimes it fails, more and more often it is replaced by computed tomography, which allows to detect small changes.
  • ultrasound of the abdominal cavity - using ptrasound waves to show the image of the liver, pancreas, kidneys, in which neoplastic changes in the initial stage often do not cause any discomfort.
According to an expertprof. Cezary Szczylik, oncologist, haematologist

Modern cancer drugs are a new piece in the puzzle that we have been trying to put together for many years. And although I am hearing skeptic voices that progress in the treatment of cancer has stopped, this is not true. Even if every year new drugs changing the face of oncology do not appear on the market, science does not stand still - clinical trials are ongoing and confirm the correctness of the adopted treatment directions. What still worries me in the Polish picture of oncology is the late reporting of patients with symptoms indicative of an already developed cancer disease. Why are so many family doctors not paying attention to the first symptoms of cancer? Why are patients afraid to admit their first ailments? If the cancer detection rate in Poland increased, we would have better treatment outcomes. The second thing is access to the latest treatments, which are obviously expensive, but patients should be allowed to take full advantage of them. I hope it will change soon.

Cancer - effective treatment methods

  • Skalpel

Surgery is still the most effective way to get rid of cancer cells in many cases. The tumor is excised with adjacent tissues and the closest lymph nodes to prevent formationmetastases. The progress is best seen in the example of surgical treatment of breast cancer: once the entire breast was removed, now in the early stages of the disease (when the tumor does not exceed 3 cm in diameter) conserving surgeries are proposed.

  • Radiotherapy

Tumor irradiation before or after surgery is expected to destroy any cancer cells left in the body. This method uses the properties of X-rays and gamma rays. Irradiation does not spare he althy tissues.

  • Chemistry

The action of drugs used in chemotherapy (cytostatics) comes down to killing rapidly dividing cancer cells, but also he althy tissues: bone marrow, hair, skin. Drugs can be administered intravenously (directly into the bloodstream) or orally. They can be administered individually, although nowadays more and more often, to increase the effectiveness of treatment, a combination of them is given.

  • Targeted therapy

These treatments use the so-called monoclonal antibodies and preparations that can locate tumor cells in the body on the basis of specific receptors present on their surface. Thanks to this method, it is possible to minimize the risk of side effects present in traditional chemotherapy. But not every cancer can be treated like this due to the lack of specific receptors.

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