THE SILENT TYPE

Doctors discuss the importance of catching cancers early through screening tools

-  SUSAN BLOOM

A number of cancers — including ovarian, breast, colorectal, cervical, pancreatic and lung — are known as “silent” cancers because they don’t necessarily trigger any initial symptoms and/or their warning signs are similar to those of less serious conditions. Because these cancers can remain under the radar in earlier stages, screening tools have never been more important for those at high risk.

WARNING SIGNS

Dr. Devika Rao, medical site director at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Basking Ridge, explained that the word cancer originated from the Greek karkinos, or crab. “There are various theories regarding the etymology of that word, but one that explains why cancer is so difficult to identify is that the disease courses through one’s body as a crab would burrow into the sand, leaving no trace of its presence on the surface above,” Dr. Rao said. “Similarly, the abnormal growth of tissue can take root in almost any organ with no clinical symptoms until it either reaches a certain size or invades a surrounding structure.”

While ovarian, breast, colorectal, cervical, pancreatic, and lung cancers can develop without symptoms, “Red flags may include persistent abdominal pain, bloating, blood in the bowels, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, postmenopausal bleeding and bone pain,” said Dr. May Abdo-Matkiwsky, hematologist/oncologist at Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) in Sparta.