Cancer symptoms you should never ignore

By Dr Brigid Monda

Most women are more vigilant than men about getting regular health checkups. Men are usually notorious foot-draggers and would never go to the doctor unless the women in their lives insisted. Here are some symptoms you must never let your man ignore because they could be a sign of cancer:

Urinary problems

As men age, urinary challenges become more frequent: the urge to urinate more often especially at night; a feeling of not completely emptying the bladder; and frequency and dribbling of urine.

These symptoms worsen when there is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), which often manifests as a man (especially a black man) ages.

For prostate cancer, you need to see your doctor who will do a digital rectal exam (DRE) which will tell him whether the prostate gland is enlarged or not; a blood test to check the level of prostate-specific antigen(PSA)— a protein produced by the prostate gland which helps determine whether the enlargement is cancerous or not and a prostate scan. If the PSA is higher than normal or the gland feels abnormal, your doctor may order a biopsy of the prostate gland and refer you to an urologist.

Changes in the testicles

Testicular cancer occurs most often in men aged between 20 to 40.

Early signs are the testicles feeling like a hard lump or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.

Never ignore these symptoms, as testicular cancer is curable when caught in its early stages.

Men need to check their testicles at least once a month for any hardness, increase in size or shrinkage.

Then they need to get their testicles examined by a doctor as part of a routine cancer screening once a year. If cancer is suspected, an ultrasound of the testes is done and a biopsy or tiny sample of testicular tissue is extracted and examined for cancer.

Breast lump

Most men never consider the possibility of having breast cancer, yet it happens. Just like women, any breast lump in a man needs to be examined by a doctor.

He also needs to look out for skin dimpling, nipple retraction, redness or scaling of the breast skin and any nipple discharge.

Heartburn, bowel movement, difficult swallowing

Not all heartburn is a sign of a heart attack especially in older men, but if it persists, it could be a pointer to cancer of the oesophagus, throat, or stomach.

Any changes in the movement of your bowels should also raise the red flag especially if you get constipated often or have blood in your stool — an early sign of cancer of the colon.

Some men have difficulty in swallowing then learn to live with it but over time, their diet changes to a more liquid one as it gets more difficult to swallow solids.

Swallowing difficulties could be a sign of cancer of the oesophagus.

Other symptoms like jaundice, a gnawing pain in the abdomen or a change in the stool colour should also set the alarm bells ringing.

Mouth changes

If you smoke or chew tobacco, you need to be especially alert to any white patches inside your mouth or white spots on your tongue.

These could be leukoplakia, a precancerous condition that can progress to oral cancer.

Dark patches too, may be a sign of Kaposi’s sarcoma especially in men with a weakened immune system due to conditions like HIV and Aids.

Unexplained weight loss

Most of us do not lose weight easily, so any unexpected weight loss should be a concern.

If a man loses more than 10 per cent of his body weight in a matter of weeks, it’s time to see the doctor. Cancer is a known cause of rapid unexplained weight loss.

Swelling of lymph nodes

Swelling in the lymph nodes in the armpit, neck or anywhere else should not be ignored especially if it gets progressively larger, and stays there longer than a month.

There are many diseases that can cause this. Tuberculosis is one of these but if there is no infection, your doctor would order a biopsy to rule out other conditions like cancer.

Persistent fever and fatigue

A persistent and unexplained fever could be a sign of an infection or even cancer because most cancers will cause fever at some point.

Often, fever occurs after the cancer has spread from its original site and invaded another part of the body.

But it can also be caused by blood cancers such as lymphoma or leukaemia.

Fatigue is another vague symptom that could point to cancer in men. It can set in after the cancer has grown or may also happen early in cancers such as leukaemia, colon or stomach cancers.

Pain:

Although most pain complaints are not due to cancer, pain can be an early symptom of some cancers. Persistent pain should be checked out by a doctor.

Persistent Cough

A persistent cough lasting more than three or four weeks should not be ignored. It could be a symptom of anything from tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, and acid reflux to lung cancer

Skin changes

You should be alert to not only changes in moles, which is a well-known sign of skin cancer, but also changes in skin pigmentation.

Sudden bleeding on your skin or excessive scaling are also reasons to check with your doctor.

Blood in an odd area

Anytime you see blood coming from a body part or orifice it has never come from, see a doctor.

For instance, blood in the stool or urine, coughing or spitting up blood are red flags.

It is a mistake to assume blood in the stool is simply from a hemorrhoid because it could be colon cancer causing it.