Be careful about these symptoms of anal cancer!!
These days a rare but serious form of cancer has been affecting many people.
This is anal cancer and this article is all about anal cancer and various important symptoms related to anal cancer.
It is known that the final part of our digestive tract is anus and the cancer that develops in the tissues of anus is anal cancer. It is necessary to detect anal cancer as its symptoms are often mistaken for common issues like fissures and haemorrhoids etc. Beginning from the cell linings of anal canal, anal cancer could spread to surrounding tissues very fast if not detected early. Truth is that any delay in detecting anal cancer could impact the treatment negatively.
Various important symptoms of anal cancer are
Anal bleeding:
Bleeding from the anus can be due to anal cancer. It must be taken into note that this is one of the most common and earliest symptoms of anal cancer. This bleeding would be visible on stools or in the toilet bowl etc. Mostly this bleeding is considered as bleeding due to haemorrhoids. It is important to check the bleeding that occurs frequently without a cause. Abnormal growths in the anal canal would be shown by means of persistent bleeding.
Pain around anus region:
It is necessary to consider the ongoing soreness, itching etc seriously as they could be due to anal cancer also. The discomfort may vary from burning sensation to pain. Point is that pain due to anal cancer would become worse over time unlike temporary irritation caused by skin conditions.
Presence of lump or mass:
In some persons, there would be a small lump or mass near their anus. This is due to anal cancer. During wiping, these lumps could be felt. The lump might not cause any pain in some cases and this would make us ignore the lump. Point is that the persistent lump that does not go away or continues to enlarge might reveal cancerous changes.
Changes in bowel habits:
If a person gets unexplained constipation, sudden diarrhoea and thin/narrow stools etc, then the person might have anal cancer. These changes in the bowel habits are associated with anal cancer. It is worthy to note that some people might have the urge to pass stools even if the bowel is empty. These changes in the bowel habits must be consulted with a doctor without fail.
Swelling in the lymph nodes etc:
Progression of anal cancer would lead to swelling of the nearby lymph nodes (due to firm enlarged lumps under the skin). The difference between swollen lymph nodes due to infection and swollen lymph nodes due to anal cancer is that in the former the swelling would improve within weeks but in the latter the swelling would persist and worsen gradually. It must be noted that detecting the swollen lymph nodes in the early stage itself would help the doctors to assess whether the anal cancer has spread beyond anus.
