Silent cancers: here’s what you need to know when there are no obvious symptoms

• Contrary to common perception, cancer does not always announce its presence through overt symptoms or obvious signs.
• While even silent cancers can sometimes be aggressive and advance rapidly, they can also remain dormant for years or even decades.
• Some prostate, breast and thyroid cancers, for example, often evolve slowly without obvious symptoms or spreading beyond the original area.

The importance of early diagnosis

• Whatever the cancer, it’s always important to get an early diagnosis though – and for silent cancers, this is obviously a challenge.
• But such symptoms can be misinterpreted or easily dismissed, which contributes to delayed diagnosis and treatment.
• Fortunately, in many countries including the UK, we have screening tests for diseases like breast or colon cancer, to increase early diagnoses.
• Early diagnosis is a key factor for successful cancer treatment.

Biomarker discovery

• From molecular profiling to liquid biopsy techniques (blood tests to diagnose cancer), innovative approaches are reshaping the landscape of cancer diagnosis, offering new avenues for personalised and precision medicine.
• For example, I worked with a team using blood tests to identify cancers in more than 1,000 women recalled after screening for mammography.
• Although there’s increasing awareness and use of this approach in Europe, it isn’t standard in the UK.

Justin Stebbing does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.