Constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain can all be symptoms of colorectal cancer.
But they can also be signs of other conditions, including Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and even a stomach virus.
So, how do you know when it’s time to see a doctor?
“Any time symptoms persist for longer than two weeks, they are cause for concern,” says gastroenterologist David Richards, M.D. “That...

Almost everyone will experience a swollen lymph node at some point. That’s because these structures are designed to filter germs and other...
Some cancer symptoms are fairly straightforward. With breast cancer, it’s often a lump. With skin cancer, it may be a mole that changes shape...
I was pregnant with my second child when I began having constipation. It turned out to be my first symptom of rectal cancer, but I didn’t know that at the time.
Each night, I’d wake up with an urgent need to go to the restroom. But then I’d sit on the toilet, unable to empty my bowels all the way. It was annoying and interfered with my sleep. My obstetrician explained that when a woman is pregnant, her expanding uterus takes up...

Before I enrolled in one of MD Anderson’s triple-negative breast cancer clinical trial in November 2016, I was in a dark place. I’d been re-diagnosed...
A little over a year ago, Robbie Johnson was desperately searching for the right metastatic breast cancer treatment.
"I’d been...
Jerry McLeary can recall the exact moment he just knew that his journey with a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma would end happily.
In high school, I didn’t have much of a social life. I had trouble with insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, depression and apathy. As time went on...
Because its symptoms are often vague, ovarian cancer can be hard to diagnose. And a definitive diagnosis requires a biopsy, which is best...
Dana MacFarlane is still in awe of her sudden onset of acute myeloid leukemia in July 2017.
“I take blood tests on a routine basis...