Why losing weight can be a cancer warning – not a sign of good health

LOSING weight could be a sign of cancer, researchers warn today.

They are urging GPs to be particularly attentive toward patients who arrive for appointments several pounds lighter.

A review by Oxford University has found that weight loss is directly linked to cancer including bowel, ovarian and prostate.

They want the NHS watchdog Nice to issue new guidelines for doctors urging them to be extra vigilant of weight loss.

Published in the British Journal of General Practice, it looked at 25 published studies on the link between weight loss and cancer.

They concluded that GPs may be overlooking weight loss as an early sign of cancer, partly because patients fail to mention it. The study also found that patients over 60 who had experienced ‘unexpected’ weight loss were 3 per cent more likely to have one of ten types of cancer.

These include bowel, prostate, ovarian, pancreatic, throat, lung, kidney, bile duct, colorectal and blood cancer.

Dr Brian Nicholson, lead author and a GP in Oxford, wrote: ‘It is possible that non-specialist doctors do not recognise weight loss as a potential symptom of cancer and omit investigation until other symptoms occur.’

Dr Richard Roope, clinical lead for cancer at the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘GPs will always be vigilant when presented with any symptom that could indicate cancer, including unexplained weight loss, while recognising that this could be a symptom of many other, more common conditions.

‘We agree with the researchers’ recommendations that GPs need better access to diagnostic tools so we can appropriately refer patients to either rule out or confirm a diagnosis of cancer.’

Cancer survival rates in the UK are notoriously lower than other European countries and this has been linked to GPs missing early signs. But doctors point out that many of the initial symptoms are vague and normally caused by other, far less serious conditions.

They are also under pressure from NHS managers to slash the number of patients they refer to hospital for diagnostic tests to save money.