[Fat Bear Science] What are the symptoms of these ten major cancers? All in one article

In our country, cancer has become a daunting chronic disease. In recent years, the incidence of cancer has been increasing. If it can be detected and diagnosed early, many patients can be cured.

Cancer patients who are clinically diagnosed are often in the locally advanced stage or have already had distant metastasis.

Cancer often has no special symptoms in its early stages, so patients cannot seek medical treatment in time, and when they do, it is often too late. Therefore, how to identify the early symptoms of cancer is crucial to improving the patient's prognosis. We call these related symptoms and signs "signs" or "warnings". If you can understand these signals, you can get timely diagnosis and treatment.

So what are the "related signs" of cancer? Let's see what experts from Chongqing Cancer Hospital say.

Experts of this issue

Wang Donglin

Wang Donglin: Director of the Department of Oncology, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital/Chongqing Cancer Hospital, chief physician, professor, doctor of medicine, and doctoral supervisor. He is good at chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapy of malignant tumors, especially in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors such as colorectal cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck tumors. Clinic hours: Monday all day, Thursday morning (special needs)

Xiong Shuanglong

Xiong Shuanglong, female, Master of Medicine, has been engaged in clinical work in oncology for a long time and has published many papers in SCI and core journals.

Cough, hemoptysis, chest pain - signs of lung cancer

Early stage lung cancer often has no obvious symptoms, and most early stage lung cancers are discovered through physical examinations. When the disease develops to the middle and late stages, symptoms such as irritating dry cough, blood in sputum, chest pain, fever, and shortness of breath often occur. For patients with chronic bronchitis, long-term smokers, asbestos workers, etc., the incidence of lung cancer is higher than that of the general population, and regular physical examinations are required for early detection and early treatment.

Recommended examinations: chest X-ray, low-dose spiral CT, lung cancer susceptibility gene testing

High-risk groups: 1. People who are exposed to long-term environmental pollution, long-term smokers, and second-hand smokers (passive smokers); 2. People who work in toxic industries (physical and chemical carcinogens, etc.); 3. People with chronic lung diseases (tuberculosis, silicosis, pneumoconiosis, etc.); 4. People's internal factors (such as family heredity, reduced immune function, and endocrine dysfunction, etc.)

Upper abdominal pain and loss of appetite - related signs of gastric cancer

Gastric cancer has an insidious onset, with more than 70% of cases having no obvious symptoms. As the disease progresses, symptoms of indigestion may gradually appear, such as upper abdominal distension or dull pain, acid reflux, belching, loss of appetite, etc. Most patients ignore it as chronic gastritis or gastric ulcer. Therefore, patients with upper abdominal discomfort or dull pain, who have a history of Helicobacter pylori infection, who like to eat smoked food, or who suffer from chronic gastric disease and gastric ulcer, should be hospitalized for examination as soon as possible and undergo regular gastroscopy.

Recommended examinations: Gastroscopy, gastric cancer susceptibility gene testing

High-risk groups: 1. Those with a family history of gastric cancer or esophageal cancer; 2. Those with a history of chronic gastritis, gastric polyps, or peptic ulcer; 3. Those with bad eating habits: such as those who like hot, sour, spicy, or other irritating foods, smoked, fried, or hard foods; those who have irregular eating habits and overeat; those who often eat foods that may go moldy; 4. Those who drink heavily and are over 40 years old; 5. Those who are under great mental stress, suffer from long-term depression or anxiety

Changes in bowel habits and blood in stools—signs of colorectal cancer

The early symptoms of colorectal cancer are not obvious, or only loss of appetite, occult blood in stool, etc. As the cancer develops, the symptoms gradually appear, manifested as changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, blood in stool, weight loss, etc. Since the friction between feces and the mass can easily cause bleeding, it is often mistaken for "hemorrhoids" and delayed diagnosis and treatment. If the above symptoms last for a long time or cannot be relieved after ordinary treatment, you should also be admitted to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time.

Recommended examinations: colonoscopy, digital rectal examination, colorectal cancer susceptibility gene testing

High-risk groups: 1. People who consume high-fat, high-protein, and high-calorie foods for a long time; 2. People over 40 years old who consume alcohol and fried foods for a long time; 3. People with chronic ulcerative colitis, colorectal adenoma, familial adenomatous colon disease, colorectal polyps, etc.; 4. People with a family history of colorectal cancer: familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer; 5. People with bleeding during bowel movements, changes in bowel habits, persistent diarrhea, constipation, etc. should undergo colonoscopy and other examinations

Pain in the liver area, aversion to oil, and loss of appetite - related signs of liver cancer

Liver cancer is known as the "king of cancers". More than half of liver cancer patients are in the middle or late stages when they are discovered. Early liver cancer is mostly asymptomatic and signless, and most liver cancer patients already have hepatitis or cirrhosis. When symptoms such as discomfort in the liver area and poor appetite occur, they do not receive enough attention. Liver cancer develops very quickly and has a high mortality rate. Pain or discomfort in the right upper abdomen is often the first symptom of liver cancer, and symptoms such as abdominal distension, loss of appetite, abdominal mass, jaundice, and weight loss may gradually appear. In my country, most liver cancers are related to hepatitis B virus infection. Therefore, for this group of people, they should develop the habit of regular check-ups.

Recommended examinations: relevant examinations every six months, including liver ultrasound and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)

High-risk groups: 1. People with a history of chronic hepatitis B or C; 2. People with a confirmed liver cancer in their family; 3. Men over 30 years old and long-term alcoholics; 4. People with fatty liver or cirrhosis; 5. People who have long consumed pickled, smoked, or moldy foods

Choking when swallowing: a sign of esophageal cancer

The symptoms of early esophageal cancer are often not obvious and are easily ignored by patients. As the disease progresses, discomfort behind the sternum, mild choking when swallowing, and foreign body sensation may occur. The above symptoms may occur intermittently or repeatedly, even for several years. At present, the treatment of esophageal cancer is a comprehensive treatment mainly based on surgery. Early detection and early treatment of esophageal cancer can significantly prolong the patient's life.

Recommended examination: Gastroscopy

High-risk groups: 1. Family history of genetic disease; 2. Love to eat hot food and drink hot tea; 3. Love to eat pickled vegetables containing carcinogen nitrite, and often eat moldy, smoked, and spicy food

Breast lumps and nipple changes: signs of breast cancer

Breast cancer is currently the most common malignant tumor in Chinese women, and has become the "number one killer" of women. The most common first symptom is a painless and progressively growing lump in the breast, which is usually a single lump in one breast. Further development of the disease can cause flat nipples, sunken breast skin to appear "dimple sign", "orange peel-like changes", breast pain, enlarged axillary lymph nodes, etc.

Recommended examinations: breast color Doppler ultrasound, mammography

High-risk groups: 1. Women with a family history of breast cancer; 2. Women with early menarche (55 years old); 3. Women who have not given birth, gave birth late (first child after 35 years old) or do not breastfeed; 4. Women with atypical hyperplasia of breast ducts and lobules; 5. Women who frequently use products containing hormones

Bleeding after sex: a sign of cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is more likely to occur in women over 40 years old and is a common malignant tumor in women. Early cancer usually has no specific symptoms and is often discovered during physical examinations. When seeking medical treatment, patients often complain of contact bleeding, which occurs after sexual intercourse or after gynecological examinations. At the same time, there may be increased vaginal discharge, lower abdominal distension and other discomfort. Patients with persistent high-risk HPV infection should undergo regular gynecological examinations and seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Recommended tests: TCT (liquid-based cytology test), HPV-DNA (human papillomavirus test). If the test finds high-risk HPV positive or TCT abnormal, a colposcopy can be performed. If necessary, tissue from the cervix can be taken for pathological histological diagnosis.

High-risk groups: 1. Persistent infection with high-risk subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV16 and HPV18 account for about 70% of cervical cancer; 2. Women who have had sexual intercourse too early, women who have multiple pregnancies and premature births, women who have multiple sexual partners or whose spouses have multiple sexual partners; 3. Women who have had genital human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus, HIV infection or other sexually transmitted diseases; 4. Women who smoke, take drugs, and are malnourished; 5. Women with cervical lesions (long-term chronic cervicitis, cervical precancerous lesions, etc.); 6. Those with a family history of cervical cancer

Abdominal pain and jaundice: signs of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer patients often have no obvious clinical symptoms in the early stages of the disease. When clear signs appear, it is often in the advanced or late stages, and the prognosis is extremely poor. Patients with pancreatic head cancer may develop jaundice early and seek medical treatment. When pancreatic body and tail cancer develops to a certain extent, symptoms such as abdominal pain, upper abdominal distension, and weight loss will occur.

Recommended examination: Color Doppler ultrasound, CT or MRI

High-risk groups: 1. Long-term smoking and drinking; 2. Patients with chronic pancreatic diseases; 3. Diabetes patients

Fever, anemia, purpura—symptoms associated with leukemia

Leukemia is a malignant tumor of the blood system, which may cause unexplained fever, fatigue, anemia, weight loss, muscle or bone pain, nose bleeding, gum bleeding, etc., and may be accompanied by enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. If the above symptoms occur, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Recommended examination: blood routine test

High-risk groups: 1. People who have long-term or chronic contact with certain chemical reagents or drugs; 2. People with congenital or hereditary diseases; 3. People who inhale a large amount of decoration pollution gas

Painless lymphadenopathy - a sign of lymphoma

Painless, progressive enlargement of superficial lymph nodes is an early sign of lymphoma, which may be accompanied by fever, fatigue, itching and other discomforts. If you have unexplained long-term fever, night sweats, weight loss or painless lymph node enlargement, you should go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible for a clear diagnosis.

Recommended examinations: color Doppler ultrasound, CT, blood test, biopsy

High-risk groups: 1. People with high work pressure, often staying up late, and long-term overwork; 2. People who are often in an environment of electronic radiation or radiation; 3. People who often use inferior hair dyes and are often exposed to chemicals containing benzene or organic solvents

The early detection of cancer, in addition to the attention of the government and the census of medical institutions, also depends on everyone being vigilant and learning to self-examine and self-discover.

Text/ Fat Bear Photos/ Online Reviewer/ Wang Donglin Xiong Shuanglong

Original article, please do not reprint without authorization

Chongqing Cancer Prevention and Treatment Science Popularization Base/Member of China Medical Self-media Alliance

Chongqing Science and Technology Commission Science Popularization Funding Project