- Any change in your skin marks merits a visit to the doctor.
- Bloody stools or pee, or blood between periods, can be a sign of cancer.
- Feeling fatigued even when you’re well-rested can be an early sign of leukemia, stomach, or colon cancer.
1. Skin Changes
An unusual spot, or a spot on your skin that changes appearance, could indicate skin cancer. Your doctor can do an exam and remove a small piece to check for cancer cells.
2. Chronic Cough
If you don’t smoke, it’s unlikely that nagging cough is a sign of cancer. But if you have a chronic cough or cough up blood, especially if you smoke, get tested for lung cancer.
3. Breast or Testicle Changes
Speak with your doctor when you notice any change in your breast, like pain, lumps, nipple changes or discharge, or redness or thickening. Your doctor may recommend a mammogram, MRI, or biopsy.
For men, a painless lump or swelling in the testicles may be a sign of testicular cancer. Sometimes, men only get a heavy feeling in their lower belly or scrotum or feel their testicles are getting larger.
4. Bloating, Heartburn or Indigestion
If your bloating comes with fatigue, weight loss, or back pain, it may signal ovarian cancer. Persistent indigestion that won’t go away even after some lifestyle changes may indicate stomach cancer.
5. Problems When You Pee
Men usually experience urinary issues like a leak, the need to pee more often, or a weak stream as they age. These may be symptoms of an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer.
6. Swollen Lymph Nodes
When the small, bean-shaped glands in your neck, armpits, and other body parts get swollen, it often signals that you’re fighting a cold, strep throat, or other infection. But they may also be symptoms of lymphoma and leukemia.
7. Unusual Bleeding
Blood in your stool may be caused by swollen and inflamed hemorrhoids, but they may also indicate colon cancer. Blood in your pee could indicate a urinary tract infection or kidney or bladder cancer.
Bloody discharge, bleeding between periods or after sex, or bleeding after menopause, may indicate cancer of the vagina, uterus, or cervix.
8. Trouble Swallowing
If you don’t have a cold, sore throat, or acid reflux, trouble swallowing may also be a sign of throat or esophageal cancer.
9. Mouth Issues
Bad breath or canker sores are usually not serious. But getting white or red patches or sores in your mouth that lasts for more than several weeks, especially if you’re a smoker, maybe a symptom of oral cancer. Other symptoms include trouble moving your jaw, a lump in your cheek, or mouth pain.
10. Unintended Weight Loss
Stress or a thyroid problem can cause you to shed off some pounds. But if you lose more than 10 pounds without trying, it could indicate pancreatic, stomach, esophageal, lung, or other cancer types.
11. Fever
A fever is often just a sign that your immune system is fighting an infection or some medications’ side effects. However, a fever that won’t go down or without an obvious cause could signal cancer in the blood, like leukemia or lymphoma.
12. Fatigue
Numerous things can make you feel exhausted, and most of them aren’t something to be worried about. But fatigue can also be a warning sign of leukemia and other cancer types. Colon and stomach cancers can sometimes cause blood loss that you’re unaware of, which can cause extreme tiredness. If you always feel wiped out even when you get enough rest, talk to your doctor.
Source: WebMD