Cancer

Cancer is a condition where cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably. The cancerous cells can invade and destroy surrounding healthy tissue, including organs.

Cancer sometimes begins in one part of the body before spreading to other areas. This process is known as metastasis.

1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. In the UK, the 4 most common types of cancer are:

There are more than 200 different types of cancer, and each is diagnosed and treated in a particular way. You can find links on this page to information about other types of cancer.

Spotting signs of cancer

Changes to your body's normal processes or unusual, unexplained symptoms can sometimes be an early sign of cancer.

Symptoms that need to be checked by a doctor include:

a lump that suddenly appears on your body
unexplained bleeding
changes to your bowel habits

But in many cases your symptoms will not be related to cancer and will be caused by other, non-cancerous health conditions.

Read more about the signs and symptoms of cancer.

Reducing your risk of cancer

Making some simple changes to your lifestyle can significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer.

For example:

The Macmillan Cancer Support website has more information about how a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your chances of developing cancer.

Cancer treatment

Surgery is the first treatment to try for most types of cancer, as solid tumours can usually be surgically removed.

2 other commonly used treatment methods are:

chemotherapy – powerful cancer-killing medicines
radiotherapy – the controlled use of high-energy X-rays

Waiting times

Accurately diagnosing cancer can take weeks or months. As cancer often develops slowly over several years, waiting for a few weeks will not usually impact on the effectiveness of treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced referral guidelines for suspected cancer.

You should not have to wait more than 2 weeks to see a specialist if your GP suspects you have cancer and urgently refers you.

In cases where cancer has been confirmed, you should not have to wait more than 31 days from the decision to treat to the start of treatment.

Cancer services

Find local cancer support services

Find specialist cancer hospitals

Find cancer support services for women

Other cancer pages

The Health A-Z covers many different types of cancer:

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Acute myeloid leukaemia

Brain tumour (high-grade)

Brain tumour (low-grade/mixed)

Breast cancer (female)

Breast cancer (male)

Carcinoid tumours

Cervical cancer

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Chronic myeloid leukaemia

Nasopharyngeal cancer

Neuroendocrine tumours

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Nose and sinus cancer

Skin cancer (malignant melanoma)

Skin cancer (non-melanoma)

Social care and support guide

If you:

need help with day-to-day living because of illness or disability
care for someone regularly because they're ill, elderly or disabled – including family members

Our guide to care and support explains your options and where you can get support.

Page last reviewed: 17 September 2019
Next review due: 17 September 2022

It's important to be aware of any unexplained changes to your body, such as the sudden appearance of a lump, blood in your urine, or a change to your usual bowel habits.

These symptoms are often caused by other, non-cancerous illnesses, but it's important to see your GP so they can investigate.

If your GP suspects cancer, they'll refer you to a specialist – usually within 2 weeks.

The specialist will carry out further tests, such as a biopsy or X-ray, and plan any necessary treatment.

Lump in your breast

See your GP if you notice a lump in your breast or if you have a lump that's rapidly increasing in size elsewhere on your body.

Your GP will refer you to a specialist for tests if they think you may have cancer.

Coughing, chest pain and breathlessness

Visit your GP if you've had a cough for more than 3 weeks.

Symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain may be a sign of a severe (acute) condition, such as pneumonia. See your GP straight away if you experience these types of symptoms.

Changes in bowel habits

See your GP if you've experienced one of the changes listed below and it's lasted for more than a few weeks:

blood in your poo
diarrhoea or constipation for no obvious reason
a feeling of not having fully emptied your bowels after going to the toilet
pain in your stomach (abdomen) or back passage (anus)
persistent bloating

Bleeding

You should also see your GP if you have any unexplained bleeding, such as:

Moles

See your GP if you have a mole that:

changes shape or looks uneven
changes colour, gets darker or has more than 2 colours
starts itching, crusting, flaking or bleeding
gets larger or more raised from the skin

Any of the above changes means there's a chance you have malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

Unexplained weight loss

You should also see your GP if you've lost a lot of weight over the last couple of months that cannot be explained by changes to your diet, exercise or stress.

Read about unintentional weight loss.

More information

The following links have more useful information about cancer.

Cancer Research UK: cancer symptom checker

Macmillan: signs and symptoms of cancer

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): referral for suspected cancer