a general question about all types of cancer - 1250397

do101
Posts:1

hi.

lets say someone is having symptoms such as fatigue, weakness , enlarged liver and / or other symptoms that could point to cancer or to an infection or a list of other diseases, but these symptoms come and a go and his/her general health gets better sometimes and everything gets very close to being normal for a few days but then later on.. goes back to having the above symptoms again.

my question is: is it possible for someone who is in the early stages of some type of a cancer to keep feeling better then goes back to feeling sick or does the health of a cancer patient keep getting worse and worse until there is a medical interventions?

i am not trying to diagnosis my self or anyone else for that matter as i am not a doctor, i am just trying to learn more about cancer, that's all.

thanks a lot in advance.

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Reply # - November 19, 2012, 05:04 AM

catdander
Posts:

I'm not a doctor either but what has been said here is cancer symptoms don't usually spontaneously disappear because cancer doesn't spontaneously go away. But I will ask a doctor to comment. You should hear back within a day.

Thank you for you questions,
Janine
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Reply # - November 19, 2012, 06:36 AM

drevans
Posts: 6

Because cancer that has not been treated is progressive, it is true that symptoms from cancer should not dramatically wax and wane. While there may be some day to day or hour to hour variability in some cancer symptoms (such as pain or shortness of breath), the overall course would be progressively worsening symptoms.

In addition, "early stage" cancer often causes absolutely no symptoms at all.

The symptoms discussed, fatigue and weakness, are considered "non-specific" as you accurately point out because there can be many causes--rheumatologic or autoimmune diseases, some types of infection, anemia, or even depression, and these potential etiologies are more likely to have a waxing and waning course. The enlarged liver is potentially a more specific symptom, though "enlarged" is a relative term, and a better indicator of something going on with the liver would be abnormal liver blood tests. I would definitely recommend someone with these symptoms discuss them with a physician, and undergo a physical exam and likely some routine blood tests. If something comes up on your history or exam that could point to a possible cancer diagnosis, this may be worth exploring, but, most likely, only typically recommended age and risk associated routine cancer screening would be indicated.

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