3. Unintended weight loss
Loss of appetite in cancer and other factors often lead to weight loss. Unintentional weight loss is often recognized as an alarm sign of poor health in common people, even without a deep understanding of medical science. In cancer patients, weight loss appears throughout the disease, but it is more rapid in the late stages when the tumor has grown very large and feeds frantically from the nutrients and energy in the patient’s blood.
Cancer uses more energy than usual to keep on growing, and the patient is probably not eating as he should because of the anorexia (loss of appetite). Thus, there is a significant increase in the caloric deficit, and the patient would start losing weight. In some cases, especially liver cancer and other cancers that trigger liquid retention, it could be associated with a sudden increase in weight due to the excess liquid. In general, we can say that it is worth investigating a patient who is losing 5% of his weight in 6 months without a significant change in the diet, physical exercise, or supplement use. This is also a part of cachexia syndrome and more common in the late stages of the disease.