{"id":16372,"date":"2022-08-26T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=16372"},"modified":"2025-06-11T11:18:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:18:45","slug":"cancer-warning-signs-all-women-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cancer-warning-signs-all-women-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer warning signs all women should know"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Catching signs of cancer in women early is important for cancer care<\/h2>\n<p>Catching cancer as early as possible greatly improves your chances of beating it.<\/p>\n<p>Early cancer detection gives health care providers better treatment options to use. Plus, the survival rate for patients is much higher when cancer is caught early, rather than during the later stages.<\/p>\n<p>One way to help detect cancer early is to get all of your recommended cancer screenings.<\/p>\n<h2>Types of cancer women should know<\/h2>\n<p>Another important way you can help to catch any cancer early is to know the signs of cancer for women. There are a lot of cancers that can impact people of any gender, but women need to be aware of their risk for gynecologic cancers, like uterine and ovarian cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Gynecologic cancers can impact women of all ages, too.<\/p>\n<p>Then, of course, there is breast cancer. Men can get breast cancer, too, but the overwhelming number of breast cancer cases occur in women.<\/p>\n<h2>Gynecologic cancer warning signs<\/h2>\n<div class=\"alignright cta\">\n<p>How is cancer detected?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/early-detection-your-best-chance\/\">Knowledge is power in the fight against cancer.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Common gynecologic cancer signs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Abnormal bleeding, including post-menopausal bleeding or discharge<\/li>\n<li>Bloating<\/li>\n<li>Pain during intercourse<\/li>\n<li>Changes in bladder and bowel habits<\/li>\n<li>Lump or skin change in the groin area<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are other signs, too, that are more vague, and could be non-cancerous, so you may want to wait and see if the symptoms persist before talking to your primary care physician. These symptoms include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Abdominal or back pain<\/li>\n<li>Constipation<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue that doesn\u2019t go away with rest<\/li>\n<li>Upset stomach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Breast cancer warning signs<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cMost breast cancers are found by women themselves,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/providers\/mary-stapel-1464087\">Mary Stapel<\/a>, MD, a physician at OSF HealthCare. \u201cSelf-examination is the most effective practice there is for catching breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Breast cancer signs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lump or bump in breast or armpit<\/li>\n<li>Nipple changes, or other changes to skin over and around the breast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Other cancer warning signs<\/h2>\n<p>Many different types of cancer can impact different parts of the body. That means there are a lot of possible signs and symptoms. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16378\" src=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"warning signs of cancer\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-710x710.png 710w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-500x500.png 500w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-250x250.png 250w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-200x200.png 200w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1-400x400.png 400w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ONC-Consideration-Cancer-Warning-Signs-1080x1080-FIN-1.png 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Other cancer signs to watch for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fevers, night sweats or trouble regulating your temperature<\/li>\n<li>Throat pain, coughing, hoarseness or trouble swallowing<\/li>\n<li>Headaches and pain in the breast, armpit or groin<\/li>\n<li>Sudden double or blurry vision<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many of the early signs of cancer can be harmless. So how can you tell if you have cancer? Well, there\u2019s no way to know on your own. You\u2019re going to need to speak with your health care provider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne isolated symptom doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you have cancer,\u201d Dr. Stapel said. \u201cBut if any symptoms persist past a couple weeks, that\u2019s when you should talk to your primary care provider.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also important to remember that some cancers early on have no visible signs \u2013 which is why <a href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/guidelines_for_early_cancer_detection.pdf\">getting your cancer screenings<\/a> is so important. Screenings can often reveal signs of cancer before any symptoms begin to show themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catching signs of cancer in women early is important for cancer care Catching cancer as early as possible greatly improves your chances of beating it. Early cancer detection gives health care providers better treatment options to use. Plus, the survival rate for patients is much higher when cancer is caught early, rather than during the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":16374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[101,108],"tags":[259,805],"coauthors":[692],"class_list":["post-16372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancer","category-women","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-screening"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cancer warning signs all women should know<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Early cancer detection increases your odds of beating it. One of the best ways to detect cancer early is by getting regular screenings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cancer-warning-signs-all-women-should-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cancer warning signs all women should know\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Early detection is key to improving your chances of beating cancer. Make sure you know the warning signs to look for and get regular screenings from your provider.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cancer-warning-signs-all-women-should-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T15:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-11T16:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/shutterstock_1481306018.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Harris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Cancer warning signs all women should know\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Early detection is key to improving your chances of beating cancer. 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