Cancer or malignant tumor is a collective name for a group of diseases consisting of more than 100 different sites of tumors caused by the overgrowth of some cells in the human body. Why is cancer so scary? It is because 90% of early stage cancers have no symptoms, while 90% of symptomatic cancer patients have already developed to the middle and late stage and lost the best time to cure. As early as 1981, the World Health Organization pointed out that “1/3 of cancers can be prevented, 1/3 of cancers can be cured through early detection and diagnosis, and 1/3 of people can live longer and have better quality of life through treatment”. This shows that early detection is crucial. And cancer prevention physical examination is an important way to actively detect tumors and a key step to enable patients to get the best treatment results.
However, in the face of up to hundreds of cancers, many people exude fear and helplessness, feeling that the occurrence of cancer is unavoidable and getting closer and closer to them. How can we detect the early signs of cancer development? What is the difference between cancer checkup and general health checkup? What kind of people is it suitable for? How to conduct cancer prevention physical examination?
Early onset signs of cancer
Any disease always shows certain signs before its onset. If we understand these signals, we can grasp the rules and characteristics of disease occurrence, and it is possible to detect and treat the disease at an early stage, thus increasing the cure rate. What are the common signals of cancer?
1. Foreign body sensation in esophagus when swallowing food, choking sensation, pain, stuffiness and discomfort behind the sternum should be noted as possible occurrence of esophageal cancer.
2.Pain in upper abdomen: people used to call it heartache. If you find discomfort in the stomach (equivalent to upper abdomen) or have pain gradually increasing, which cannot be relieved by taking pain-relieving and acid-relieving drugs, and persistently poor digestion, you should be alert to the occurrence of stomach cancer.
3.Irritating dry cough and prolonged cough or blood in sputum Not well relieved by antibiotics and cough medicine and gradually aggravated, with occasional occurrence of bloody sputum and chest pain, is often an early sign of lung cancer.
4.Breast lumps: normal female breast is soft in texture. If a lump is touched and the age is over 40 years old, breast cancer should be considered as a possibility.
5.Abnormal vaginal bleeding: Irregular vaginal bleeding outside menstruation or after menopause, or bleeding after sexual intercourse, may be a signal of cervical cancer.
6.Blood in the nose: especially blood in the nose in the morning, nasal congestion, tinnitus, headache, especially one-sided migraine, are all danger signs of nasopharyngeal cancer.
7: Black stool, blood in stool or abdominal pain; abdominal discomfort, hidden pain, abdominal distension, change in stool habit, feeling of falling and blood in stool, followed by anemia, weakness, and lumps felt in the abdomen should be considered as possible colon cancer.
8: Headache and vomiting: headache, etc. occur mostly in the morning or evening, vomiting is not related to eating, and often appears with the intensification of headache, which are common symptoms of brain tumor.
9: Long-term unexplained fever: such as malignant lymphoma, leukemia, etc., often have fever. Malignant lymphoma manifests as painless progressive lymph node enlargement, accompanied by fever, emaciation, anemia and other symptoms.
10.Recent swelling in any part of the body with gradual enlargement; rapid enlargement or rupture and bleeding of moles; unexplained progressive weight loss.
What is cancer prevention physical examination?
Cancer prevention physical examination is a professional medical examination method, which is a professional examination method for cancer professionals to examine the whole body of the examinees through professional technical means and methods, with the purpose of discovering early tumors or obtaining high-risk factors of the examinees, so as to prevent the occurrence of tumors.
Tumor marker examination is included in different packages of cancer prevention checkup. Tumor markers are some special substances produced in human body, the content of these substances in cancer patients is significantly higher than that of normal people.
The blood test can provide a basis for the early diagnosis of cancer. For example, AFP is a marker for liver cell and germ cell tumors; carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an indicator for the diagnosis and treatment of breast, lung, stomach, colon, pancreatic and biliary tract cancers; glycoantigen CA199 is a sensitive marker for pancreatic cancer, etc. Generally speaking, cancer patients can detect elevated tumor markers, but detecting a mildly elevated tumor marker is not the same as having cancer. What it suggests is that the person must undergo more targeted screening or long-term medical follow up.
Cancer prevention medical checkup packages can be designed with targeted programs based on each individual’s age, gender, family history, and medical history. For example, for women, the package will include checkups for ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer, while for men with bad habits such as smoking and drinking, the cancer checkup will include checkups for lung cancer, liver cancer, and prostate cancer.
Common medical checkup items for cancer prevention
1.Three major routine tests (blood, urine and stool routine): they can often detect the traces of cancer. Blood routine is often the first manifestation of malignant tumor in blood system.
2.Liver and kidney function: must be checked for patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Statistics found that 85% of liver cancer patients in China have a history of hepatitis B or C and abnormal liver function.
3.Tumor markers: commonly used are AFP, CEA and CA125, CA199, CA153, etc. They are indirectly suggestive of malignant tumor, but not specific and inevitable.
4.Chest X-ray: reflecting the lung condition, it is best to take both frontal and lateral views. Long-term smokers or long-term stay in a closed or dusty environment, or people with family history must be checked. For those who are at high risk, CT chest examination may also be performed.
5, ultrasound: abdominal ultrasound can reflect the condition of the abdominal organs. For long-term heavy drinkers, chronic hepatitis B patients, patients with cirrhosis, and high-risk groups with long-term chemical jobs, it is recommended to have ultrasound examination once every six months. In addition, gynecological pelvic ultrasound examination can understand the condition of the uterus and adnexa.
6, gastroscopy: reflecting the condition of the esophagus and stomach, with indigestion must be checked. Patients with long-standing gastric ulcer, long-term chronic atrophic gastritis, and patients with atypical hyperplasia found by gastroscopy need long-term follow-up and gastroscopy at least once a year.
7.Anal finger examination: it is the easiest way to check rectal cancer. It is a must for those with long-term blood in stool or abnormal stool habit. Patients with colon and rectal polyps, family history of colon cancer, history of diarrhea, constipation and blood in stool should have additional colonoscopy for screening.
Female Cancer Screening Package
1.Breast examination: breast cancer has been ranked the first among female malignant tumors. Women with abnormal menstruation, late marriage and childbirth, family genetics, high fat and high calorie food, estrogen abuse, and mental stress are all high risk groups for breast cancer, and it is best for these women to start breast cancer screening at a young age. For women between 20 and 39 years old, it is recommended to have a physical examination (palpation to check for breast lumps) every 1 to 3 years, and for women 40 years old and above, it is recommended to have a breast ultrasound or mammogram once a year along with the physical examination.
2. Gynecological examination: Routine gynecological examination can screen for early vaginal and cervical cancers. It can also detect many precancerous lesions, such as severe cervical erosion and condyloma acuminatum infection, which should be treated actively or followed up closely.
3.Cervical smear: If you have cervicitis or cervical erosion, you need to have a cervical smear. In some early cervical cancer, the surface of the cervix is very smooth and the lesion area cannot be detected by naked eye, so if cervical smear is not done, early cancer will not be detected. Since cervical cancer is closely related to sexual life, it is better for women to start cervical smear screening 3 years after they have their first sexual intercourse and insist on doing it once a year. If the results are negative for three or more times in a row, the number of tests can be reduced.
Male Cancer Screening Package
Prostate examination: It is recommended that men should start screening for prostate cancer at the age of 50, and for those aged 50 and above, they should have an anal finger examination and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a tumor marker, once a year by a professional physician. If the prostate-specific antigen is positive once, the diagnosis of prostate cancer cannot be confirmed hastily, and it is necessary to review the test two to three times and exclude prostate inflammation and perform prostate puncture if necessary.
The following are the precautions for cancer prevention physical examination.
1. Do not cancel the physical examination items without authorization
Some items in physical examination may be slightly painful or uncomfortable, so some people will give up the examination. For example, some women do not undergo gynecological examination, so they miss the screening time for cervical and vaginal cancer. Others refuse to undergo anal examination, while 70% to 80% of rectal cancers can be detected through anal examination.
2.Cancer screening must be done by competent hospitals and oncologists
Unlike health checkups, tumor screening requires professional medical personnel to use systematic tumor screening techniques, such as imaging, physical examination, pathological examination, cytological examination and other means to detect early or asymptomatic tumors. And every examination item has its limitation, even PET-CT examination which is nearly ten thousand dollars is no exception, sometimes the image display of inflammation and tumor is very close, which may cause confusion. Therefore, the clinical experience of oncologist is irreplaceable by any instrument.
3.Strengthen cancer prevention awareness and attach importance to cancer prevention physical examination
Especially, people over 40 years old and those with family history of tumor should pay more attention. For high-risk groups, they should contact with professional oncologists to determine their own screening plan, screening methods and screening frequency. So that early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment can be achieved.