Dr. Anisha Patel Flags 5 Cancer Symptoms Often Dismissed for 6 Months

1 articles · Updated · AOL · Aug 13

Dr. Anisha Patel urged people to seek medical advice sooner for five symptoms often written off as stress or ageing: unusual fatigue, changed bowel habits, unexplained weight loss, persistent back pain and ongoing bloating.
One in three people wait six months before contacting a GP about a possible cancer symptom, and a BMJ study found each four-week delay in treatment raises death risk by 6% to 13%.
Patel, who was diagnosed with stage-3 bowel cancer in 2018 after explaining away her own symptoms, said later diagnosis often means the disease has had more time to grow or spread.
Her guidance sets symptom thresholds for action, including fatigue lasting more than six weeks and bowel changes or bloating persisting more than three weeks.
Early detection can sharply change outcomes: about 9 in 10 bowel cancer patients survive five years or more at the earliest stage, versus 1 in 10 at the latest stage.