No one wants to be “favored” by cancer. According to the authoritative report, according to the average life expectancy of 74 years, the chance of getting malignant tumor in a person’s life is 22%. What can we do to keep the “tumor king” away from us? It is necessary to pay attention to the changes of the body from time to time and be proactive. According to a recent article on “Women’s Friend” website, small changes such as stomach pain, hoarseness and difficulty in urination are easy to be ignored, but they may be precursors of cancer. You Changxuan, deputy director of oncology department of Southern Hospital of Southern Medical University, analyzed several manifestations that you are targeted by “tumor king”, so as to help you know yourself and your enemy, and prevent the problem before it happens. Burning behind the sternum along with chest pain Burning behind the sternum is a common symptom of esophageal injury, and frequent occurrence of burning behind the sternum or chest pain should alert you to esophageal cancer. Post-sternal burning is mainly caused by gastric reflux. According to experts, usually retrosternal burning is accompanied by pain and some of them may have difficulty in swallowing. The difference between retrosternal burning in esophageal cancer and common stomach pain: The location of retrosternal burning in esophageal cancer is usually located above the stomach, which belongs to the pain in the chest cavity behind the sternum. In contrast, ordinary stomach pain is located below the junction of the two thoraxes and belongs to the pain under the saber, and sometimes there is also “stomach acid”. If the pain is prolonged and tends to worsen, and is not relieved by medication, you need to go to the hospital for a gastroscopy to screen for cancer, especially if you have a history of gastritis or gastric ulcer. Pain around the umbilicus and lower abdomen Usually we refer to the abdomen below the chest as the stomach, which is a larger area. Tummy pain may be related to many causes, but if it manifests as pain around the umbilicus and lower abdomen, it is often an intestinal lesion. A common intestinal lesion associated with tumors is colon cancer. Tumors growing in the colon can cause obstruction of the intestinal lumen and direct infiltration of the tumor, which in turn irritates the intestine and triggers intestinal spasms that manifest as stomach pain, often persistent or paroxysmal vague, cramping and dull pain. If blood in stool is found at the same time, one needs to be alerted that cancer may have occurred. Intense dry cough with blood in sputum Lung cancer is the cancer with the highest incidence and mortality rate in China. Patients with lung cancer usually have a large number of smokers, and these patients often combine with some chronic lung inflammation, the main manifestation of which is cough. Unlike a normal cough, the cough of lung cancer patients is often a paroxysmal, irritating dry cough that is more intense without much sputum. The frequency of coughing is significantly more than the general inflammatory cough, and the cough interval becomes shorter. If there is blood in the sputum, focus on whether you have lung cancer Hoarseness If you have hoarseness or a feeling of pressure in the neck, it may be a precursor of thyroid cancer. The thyroid gland is close to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and once a tumor grows, it will easily compress the recurrent laryngeal nerve, resulting in vocal cord paralysis and hoarseness. In addition, when lung cancer metastasizes to the mediastinal lymph nodes, it will also compress the recurrent laryngeal nerve and cause hoarseness. Usually, we can check whether the thyroid gland in the neck has become thicker, touch the lump, and notice whether the voice has suddenly changed, and if necessary, go to the hospital to check the thyroid gland to detect the lesion in time. Breast abnormalities Early stage breast cancer often lacks clear symptoms, but there are still certain physical signs worthy of attention, including nipple overflow (especially bloody overflow), orange peel-like skin, nipple retraction, etc. Tumor invasion of the normal glands of the breast and the ligaments connecting the skin can lead to some bloody discharge and changes in the appearance of the breast. The early detection of breast cancer cannot rely on symptoms and signs alone, but on self-examination and screening, including one look, two touches and three squeezes: one look for abnormalities in appearance, one touch for lumps and one squeeze for overflow. It is recommended that women over 40 years old, those with family history of breast cancer, those with history of severe atypical hyperplasia of breast ducts and lobules, and those with relatives who are carriers of BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation gene should undergo regular breast cancer screening. Prolonged menstrual bleeding Usually, women have regular menstrual periods. If menstrual bleeding is prolonged or intermittent after menstruation, with aggravation and dripping, you need to suspect whether you have cervical cancer. The most obvious manifestation of cervical cancer is an increase in bloody discharge, such as blood in the leucorrhea and bleeding during sex. Usually, this kind of bleeding can be mistaken for irregular menstruation, which requires women to pay attention to the timing and prompt examination. It should be reminded that dysmenorrhea is not directly related to uterine cancer. Sudden and unexplained weight loss During the development of cancer, weight loss will occur to varying degrees, which is a common feature of malignant wasting diseases. The presence of tumor in the body usually leads to disturbance of the body’s energy metabolism, resulting in weight loss. If there is no recent change in diet or exercise program and weight loss exceeds 5% of body weight within 6 months, prompt medical consultation is required. Difficulty urinating combined with hematuria For men, difficulty urinating is the most common early sign of prostate cancer. All men over the age of 60 will have some degree of prostate enlargement or hypertrophy, causing difficulty in urination. Experts say that although patients with prostate cancer will have difficulty urinating, benign prostate enlargement can also cause such problems, so you cannot conclude that it is prostate cancer just by difficulty urinating. It is only when the symptoms develop faster and are more severe or even combined with hematuria that the difficulty in urination may be prostate cancer. However, prostate enlargement and prostate cancer are both diseases that older men are prone to, so they should not be taken lightly. Discolored nails or pestle fingers The incidence of melanoma is higher in Europe and the United States. When brown or black streaks appear on the nails, or when polka dots appear, it may mean that you have skin cancer. In addition, patients with lung cancer may have pestle-like finger changes, and pale nails may mean that the liver is not functioning properly. However, the mechanism by which nails indicate disease is not well understood and may be related to irregularities in peripheral blood circulation and hormone levels in the body. Prolonged recurrent high fever Fever is a common response of the body to fight against the invasion of external pathogens. Ordinary fever is easily recovered, but some fevers caused by cancer are difficult to subside. For example, fever caused by leukemia usually manifests as recurrent high fever combined with reduced platelets, bleeding, anemia, weight loss, etc. The patient is pale, easily tired and shortness of breath after activity. Leukemia is a cancer that occurs in the body’s immune system. Normally, normal white blood cells can resist invasion by external pathogens, but when white blood cells become abnormal, the body’s ability to resist decreases and pathogens are easily invited to invade. Coupled with the fact that leukemia cells themselves produce endogenous pyrogenic sources, it is easy to develop fever. In addition, cancers such as lymphoma and lung cancer can also develop fever, which is more difficult to control but often ignored by people. Finally, I would like to remind you that although the above symptoms may be precursors of cancer, many diseases may also show similar symptoms, so there is no need to panic too much. If there is any change in your body, you should not avoid seeking medical help or worry too much, but you should seek medical help in time.