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Other than weight loss, there aren't any observable symptoms. This person has an appetite and good amount of energy. Capable of doing daily chores and walking through large grocery super centers.
Maybe, but obviously it isn't going to be the definitive sign. Many cancers don't manifest in weight loss at all. Is this an elderly person? Many older folks lose weight. It could be as simple as loss of muscle mass due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Medication side effects. Of course there are endocrine system imbalances such as diabetes, but there are usually other noticeable symptoms of that.
For example, pancreatic cancer is so deadly for exactly this reason. There are usually no symptoms until the disease has spread to other organs. Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer often don't occur until the disease is advanced.
Liver cancer also is hard to detect early on. The liver is relatively large and tumors can be difficult to detect. By the time you have recognizable symptoms, the cancer has usually spread and is untreatable.
There are many other cancers that often few early symptoms. Lung cancer is sometimes called "the silent killer".
It is best to speak with your GP and discuss your concerns.
When I retired from the US Navy after serving on Active Duty for 20 years, I was seen by a Navy doctor for the second time in my entire career. I saw a navy doctor when I enlisted and again when I retired.
That Navy doctor told me that as I age I should get my PSA level tested every second year as a screening for cancer.
So as a retiree, when I go to a civilian doctor for a physical, on the even-numbered years I ask for them to include a PSA test in the blood work they are doing. At 55, I had a physical and I asked my doctor for a PSA test. She refused to do it. She said that PSA tests give too many false-positive results. I explained to her what the Navy doctor had told me and that I am going to have my blood tested for PSA levels. Either she could do it, or I can change to a different doctor who will do it. She relented and agree to have my PSA tested. That test caught my cancer. If I had gone along with that civilian doctor, I would have never known that I had cancer, and it would have metastasized and spread throughout my body.
That civilian doctor was soon fired from that clinic.
Three years later, my wife broke her leg and I took her to the ER. The doctor who treated my wife's broken leg was that same doctor who I had to argue with to do the PSA test. I told her that I remembered her trying to refuse to give me a PSA test and that it did catch cancer. Because I insisted on having my PSA tested, we caught my cancer in time. If I had followed her advice it would have killed me.
When I retired from the US Navy after serving on Active Duty for 20 years, I was seen by a Navy doctor for the second time in my entire career. I saw a navy doctor when I enlisted and again when I retired.
That Navy doctor told me that as I age I should get my PSA level tested every second year as a screening for cancer.
So as a retiree, when I go to a civilian doctor for a physical, on the even-numbered years I ask for them to include a PSA test in the blood work they are doing. At 55, I had a physical and I asked my doctor for a PSA test. She refused to do it. She said that PSA tests give too many false-positive results. I explained to her what the Navy doctor had told me and that I am going to have my blood tested for PSA levels. Either she could do it, or I can change to a different doctor who will do it. She relented and agree to have my PSA tested. That test caught my cancer. If I had gone along with that civilian doctor, I would have never known that I had cancer, and it would have metastasized and spread throughout my body.
That civilian doctor was soon fired from that clinic.
Three years later, my wife broke her leg and I took her to the ER. The doctor who treated my wife's broken leg was that same doctor who I had to argue with to do the PSA test. I told her that I remembered her trying to refuse to give me a PSA test and that it did catch cancer. Because I insisted on having my PSA tested, we caught my cancer in time. If I had followed her advice it would have killed me.
Recommendations change over time as the evidence changes. PSA recommendations have changed and it is now a collaborative effort between doctor and patient rather than simply a blanket statement that one should have a PSA done every so often. The latest changes came about based on outcome studies in following those who got repeat testing and those who did not and followed their outcome. The outcomes were the same for both groups in terms of longevity. The people who were diagnosed with prostate cancer lived just as long as those who delayed a cancer diagnosis. Diagnosing them earlier did not prolong their life compared to those who delayed the diagnosis. The problem with prostate cancer is that it occurs predominantly in the elderly and so they usually die of other causes before the prostate cancer kills them. It is less aggressive in general. The exception is those who are younger or black. They tend to have more aggressive forms of cancer. At age 55 that isn't old but on the young age. I would be important to test those at high risk for aggressive cancers in that age group.
It depends on your psyche and thoughts about cancer if you are older. If you want to get it diagnosed early and treated early then expect complications associated with treatments which are common and if you come down with those complications then you will have to live with those. Others knowing that the outcome is the same will not get tested with a PSA but wait until other symptoms present that makes them uncomfortable and then they get evaluated for prostate cancer. The delay allows them to keep function and avoid side effects of the surgery which are significant. Both groups have the same outcome on longevity. Getting diagnosed earlier does not, based on the studies, mean that you live longer. Again the exception are those few with aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
There's been a reassessment of early diagnosis of certain cancers with prostate and thyroid cancers at the top of the list. Post mortem sampling of people dying show they didn't even know they had cancer. Patients have associated cancer with early death and thus expect cancer to always be treated and because of this understanding some pathological diagnosis have changed, name change, solely to shift the mindset from take it out it's cancer to it does not need treatment now. Taking out the word cancer allows you that freedom. It is fine tuning what we mean by cancer. You state that "I would have never known that I had cancer, and it would have metastasized and spread throughout my body." That is your definition of cancer. If the cancer isn't spreading and metastasizing then a lot of that fear goes away. So the bottom line is that very low indolent, nonaggressive cancer not normally associated with metastasis might get a name change to take it out of the cancer category.
In your case you got it right but it isn't a one size fits all the way it used to be to test everybody without symptoms regularly with PSA. The same applies with a finger up the butt for the same reason.
Weight loss tends to be a very late complication in most cancers. It tends to occur when the tumor has caused depression/lack of appettite, or when it secretes chemicals or changes metabolism that may alter the sense of taste and affect appettite. Of course GI tumors may obstruct and make it dificult to eat, and when big enough, a tumor may consume a large part of the daily calorie intake. Those both tend to occur late in the course.
In regards PSA as a screening test-- all men make PSA. The prostate secretes more when it is inflammed, when it is "called into action" (to be polite) and when it enlarges with aging...and also when there is cancer present....
ALL men will show prostate cancer in situ at biopsy or autopsy after the age of 85-90. The PSA is "officially" not recommended anymore as a screening test because it was felt that it led to excessive biopsies that turned out to be benign.
Prostate ca is listed as the third (IIRC) most common cause of cancer death among men-- but that's because so many men die WITH prostate cancer, not FROM prostate ca. Prostate ca tends to occur in two forms-- one more agressive and most, less so....That level of aggression tends to be high in those who develop it at an earlier (<60) age and less aggressive if the pt is >70....
Treatment for prostate ca can involve testosterone blocking hormones, whchcanmake it harder to maintain muscle mass/weight.
Individualized management is called for, not some one-size-fits-all rule book (Socialists just hate when I point that out.)
For my biopsy, twelve core samples were taken. The pathology report said that all twelve core samples showed disease, with a very high Gleason score [meaning the disease was a fast-growing/invasive form of the disease].
Bone scans showed that it had not yet metastasized to bone cancer. So it was thought to still be growing within the organ.
The surgeon was concerned that since the entire prostate was already consumed by disease, that it may have been in the process of exiting the organ via the urethra or following the nerve bundle. So he chose to remove portions of both. And to vacuum up all fat and lymph tissue in the vicinity.
I was given the impression that since my cancer was so fast-growing, I was fortunate to have gotten it when I did [ie before it had spread to bone cancer].
For my biopsy, twelve core samples were taken. The pathology report said that all twelve core samples showed disease, with a very high Gleason score [meaning the disease was a fast-growing/invasive form of the disease].
Bone scans showed that it had not yet metastasized to bone cancer. So it was thought to still be growing within the organ.
The surgeon was concerned that since the entire prostate was already consumed by disease, that it may have been in the process of exiting the organ via the urethra or following the nerve bundle. So he chose to remove portions of both. And to vacuum up all fat and lymph tissue in the vicinity.
I was given the impression that since my cancer was so fast-growing, I was fortunate to have gotten it when I did [ie before it had spread to bone cancer].
Yes you were right and she was wrong in your case. We are dealing with lots of individuals though and not just you. It worked out fine for you. Not everybody is young and not everybody has a high grade aggressive cancer. Most are old and have low grade cancers and in many cases the treatment is worse than the disease.
Recommendations have to be different for different people and no blind blanket recommendations.
It's a new poster that has not been back since starting the thread, so it doesn't look like they'll be reading any advice given here.
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