Top eight cancer signs pinpointed

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 17:24

Written by Editor

The eight unexplained symptoms most closely linked to cancer have been pinpointed by researchers. Researchers at Keele University also gave the age at which patients should be most concerned by the symptoms, which  are blood in urine and anaemia, rectal blood, coughing up blood, breast lump or mass, difficulty swallowing, post-menopause bleeding and abnormal prostate tests.

The researchers were looking for symptoms which gave a one in 20 or higher chance of turning out to be cancer. A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said that these were by no means the only potential warning signs. He said the particular symptoms mentioned in the study are already thought of as important potential signs of cancer, but there are more than 200 different types of cancer, which cause many different symptoms.

He advised people who notice an unusual or persistent change in their body to get it checked out immediately because when cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often more likely to be successful.