False alarms and early signs of six types of cancer in men

Prostate cancer

False alarm: Many people believe that frequent urination, urgent urination, slow urination, and incomplete urination are related to prostate cancer. But in fact, these may just be symptoms of prostate hyperplasia or urethral stenosis.

Early signs: The best way to diagnose prostate cancer early is through direct diagnosis and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. Direct diagnosis is one of the main ways to detect prostate cancer. If the prostate is found to be enlarged, hardened, nodular, or irregular in shape during the examination, it is possible that the patient has prostate cancer. PSA is the most sensitive tumor marker for prostate cancer. If PSA is elevated or changes a lot, a prostate cancer biopsy should be performed.

Lung cancer

False alarm: Many patients diagnosed with lung cancer have a history of pneumonia, and the early symptoms of the two are very similar, such as fever, cough, sputum, and shadows found on chest X-rays.

Early signs: Many people mistake lung cancer for pneumonia and miss the best time for treatment. Therefore, while paying attention to symptoms such as coughing, coughing up blood, and chest pain, pneumonia patients should take another chest X-ray after 4-6 weeks of treatment to clarify the condition. This is especially true for patients who experience chest pain without exercise.

Colon cancer

False alarm: Bleeding during bowel movements, the blood is bright red, stops on its own after bowel movements, and there is no pain. This is definitely not colon cancer, but a symptom of hemorrhoids.

Early signs: You should still pay great attention to blood in the stool. Even if you have blood in the stool once, you should never ignore it. If it is colon cancer, the stool is often bloody, mixed with mucus or pus. The color of this blood is darker than hemorrhoid bleeding, and it is often accompanied by diarrhea. At this time, you must have a colonoscopy in time to detect the problem early and start treatment as soon as possible.

Bladder cancer

False Alert: Bladder irritation or urethral pain may be caused by a urinary tract infection.

Early signs: blood in the urine. Most bladder cancers occur on the lining of the bladder. If detected early, they can still be cured.

Lymphoma

False alarm: In fact, it is not as common as people think that as long as the lymph nodes are swollen, you should be alert to lymphoma. Swollen lymph nodes left over from infections in the oral cavity, nasopharynx, lower limbs and reproductive organs are not symptoms of the disease.

Early signs: Painless swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin. Unexplained weight loss within one or two months, and lymph node pain after drinking are important signs to watch out for. If the swollen lymph nodes due to infection do not subside within a week, you should go to the hospital for a serious examination. Blood tests can sometimes reveal some abnormalities, but the most thorough method is to perform a biopsy on the lymph nodes.

Melanoma

False Alert: Brown, hardened seborrheic keratosis plaques that usually do not disappear on their own appear on the body. They are generally benign and rarely become malignant.

Early signs: Skin plaques with malignant characteristics will be prominent, change color, have jagged edges, and have an uneven surface. Sometimes they are accompanied by exudation, bleeding, itching, etc.