Someone is told they have cancer every two minutes in the UK. Buckingham Palace has disclosed that King Charles is among the thousands of Brits who have started 2024 with a scary diagnosis. The type of cancer has not yet been revealed - it is not prostate cancer but was discovered during his recent treatment for an enlarged prostate. Spotting cancer by chance, as the King's doctors did, suggests it may have been caught early enough that it did not cause obvious symptoms or show up on basic scans.
Catch it early
"A cancer diagnosis is always worrying," says Professor Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick. "The good news is that with improved diagnostic tests and treatments, cancer survival has doubled over the last 50 years in the UK," the expert added. "Diagnosing cancer early provides the best chance of successful treatment and cure."
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant for www.patient.info, added: "It is always sad to hear that anyone has been diagnosed with cancer, and most cancers become more common with age. The fact that His Majesty's cancer was discovered while he was having treatment for another condition is positive as it makes it more likely that it is at an early stage."
According to Cancer Research UK, the five most common cancers found in men of the King's age are:
- Bladder cancer
- Bowel cancer
- Lung cancer
- Melanoma skin cancer
- Prostate cancer
Knowing early symptoms can help you get treatment sooner to better your chances of remission. According to Professor Lawerence, early warning cancer symptoms in men can include:
1. Blood in urine
If you have blood in your urine, you shouldn't ignore it. This is a typical symptom of bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK, with over 20,500 Brits diagnosed each year. The deadly condition is more common in older adults, with most new cases diagnosed in people aged 60 and above. Because the symptoms can be quite vague, around a quarter of all cases are diagnosed late. The cruel disease kills around half of all those who have it, according to the charity Action Bladder Cancer UK.
2. Blood in poo
Blood on your poo or bleeding while sitting on the loo can be an early sign of colon, rectum, or bowel cancer. This is especially concerning if the bleeding persists. Bowel cancer is now the third most common cancer in the UK. Around 43,000 Brits are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year, with 268,000 living with the disease today. It is the UK's second deadliest cancer, claiming 16,500 lives each year.
3. Change in bowel habits
The occasional bowel problem is normal and is nothing to worry about. However, frequent bouts of diarrhea and constipation may also indicate either bowel or rectal cancer.
4. Pain in your tummy and indigestion
It's normal to have tummy aches from time to time. This is especially true if you've indulged in fried fatty foods. However, experiencing tummy pain at the top of your stomach accompanied by lots of ingestion could indicate stomach cancer. The disease affects about 7,300 people each year in the UK, and it leads to around 5,000 deaths. Men are twice as likely as women to develop stomach cancer, and it is more common in older adults.
5. Unexplained weight loss
Maintaining a healthy weight as you age becomes more difficult, so you might consider weight loss a positive thing. But sudden and unexplained weight loss can indicate a serious health problem, including almost any type of cancer.
6. Pain in your back
Back pain is a common cause of disability, but very few men know it may be a symptom of cancer. Some cancer symptoms, including an achy back, may not show until it has spread to other parts of your body, such as the bones of your spine. For example, prostate cancer is especially prone to spread to the bones and may cause these symptoms within your hip bones and lower back.
7. Unusual lumps
Unusual lumps cropping up anywhere on the body cause for concern. Men should look for unusual growths in the testicles, as this could be a sign of testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is diagnosed around 2,300 times every year in the UK and is the 17th most common cancer in the country. It affects younger men, but experts do not know exactly what causes it.
8. A persistent cough
It's quite normal to cough now and again, especially in the winter when many respiratory viruses are floating about. However, a persistent cough can be a sign of lung cancer. Lung cancer accounts for around 13 per cent of all new cases of the disease each year, and each day, around 130 people are told they have the illness. It is the UK's biggest killer, with more than 35,000 losing their lives every year.
Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer.
