For any oncological disease, it is most important to determine its development at an early stage, when the chance of a favorable outcome of treatment is high. Everyone should constantly monitor their health and focus on the first symptoms in order to prevent the development of serious diseases such as cancer. The first sign of cancer is an increased body temperature (from 37 to 38 degrees). In many cases, subfebrile temperature in cancer occurs long before the main signs of malaise appear and does not go away within 6-7 months. If you pay attention to such a factor in time and undergo a comprehensive study, then you can recover from dangerous oncology at an early stage of its development. What does the temperature mean in oncology?
Causes
Most often, in the first and second stages of oncology, the temperature increases with damage to the colon, lungs, lymphoma, lymphocytic leukemia and lymphosarcoma. Body temperature in cancer rises at a time when the cancerous tumor actively spreads and increases in size, releasing antibodies, proteins and waste products into the blood stream and nearby tissues. The human immunity pays special attention to them and enters into an active struggle.
Low-grade body temperature - what is it? When a malignant formation begins to damage more and more tissues, leading to an inflammatory process, with insufficient protection of the immune system, the patient immediately feels an increase in body temperature from 37 to 38 degrees. The causes of subfebrile temperature in oncology are as follows:
- Infection and pathogens begin to penetrate into the internal organs of a person due to insufficient protection of the immune system.
- If a patient has already been prescribed therapy to fight cancer, then body temperature may increase due to an adverse reaction to drugs and, in particular, to chemotherapy.
- The temperature in stage 4 oncology has been kept at a high level for a long time due to the fact that the malignant neoplasm has managed to spread to a large often diseased organ and gives metastases.
If the patient suddenly began to feel a fever during oncology or a general malaise, it is important for him to immediately seek medical help. You do not need to start using any medications on your own, as high fever can be a response to tumors. It is important to inform the doctor about this and describe the circumstances in all details.
Other causes of fever
Is oncology always elevated? No not always. And most often, the following conditions cause a prolonged temperature:
- a change in the hormonal background in the body of a pregnant woman;
- thermoneurosis;
- in the absence of disease, when such a body temperature is considered acceptable to the body;
- tuberculosis;
- brucellosis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- temperature tail of infectious diseases;
- autoimmune lesions - lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis;
- helminthic infestations;
- the spread of infection throughout the body;
- Addison's disease;
- taking certain medications;
- thyroid disease;
- latent sepsis and inflammation;
- AIDS;
- viral hepatitis;
- intestinal lesions.
What stages exist?
Low-grade body temperature - what is it? This term is called a steady increase in body temperature from 37 to 38 degrees. The following stages of malaise are distinguished:
- immunity loses protection, and infectious activity begins in the body;
- the level of leukocytes and mediators in the blood rises;
- the hypothalamus begins to actively increase body temperature;
- the temperature drops to around 37 degrees;
- there is an active decrease in body temperature due to accelerated heat transfer or taking anti-inflammatory medications. Low temperature, as a rule, does not last long.
Accompanying symptoms
What does the temperature mean in oncology? In addition to a sharp increase in body temperature, doctors distinguish the following symptoms of malaise:
- Pain, provided there is a large number of foci of the tumor.
- The beginning of the development of an extensive inflammatory process in the body due to the spread of the tumor. From time to time, the patient feels a fever, and his condition only gets worse.
- There is general fatigue, weakness. If previously the patient could work normally all day, and his productivity was at its best, now he quickly gets tired, feels sleepy and lazy.
- Total or partial loss of appetite, resulting in rapid weight loss. The patient can lose weight up to 10 kilograms, while not doing any sports and not arranging any diets.
- A noticeable pallor of the skin is noticeable. If the tumor formation spreads in the liver, then the skin tone becomes yellowish. Strong skin hyperpigmentation occurs, red spots and other strange rashes form.
If you have at least two of the symptoms described above, it is important to immediately go to the doctor and go through all the tests prescribed by him, to pass urine and blood tests. The signs themselves are not one hundred percent evidence of cancer, since they are quite possible with other diseases.
Bowel and prostate cancer
In the presence of a malignant formation, negative changes can occur throughout the body. The process of inflammation is formed in any area, including the mucous membrane of the mouth, eyes and genitals. Small wounds on the body now heal for a very long time, fester under the crust of blood, the skin ceases to regenerate normally.
The most common symptoms of colon and prostate cancer include:
- pain when going to the toilet;
- the presence of pulling pain in the lower abdomen, which often moves to the back;
- full bladder syndrome - a person wants to go to the toilet, even if he recently went to it;
- headache, dizziness;
- sudden fever and chills;
- pain in muscles and bones, which indicates pathology in the hematopoietic system or bone metastases;
- in emptying or urine, you may notice an admixture of blood (stool darkens, urine becomes pinkish);
- incomprehensible discharge of pus with an unpleasant odor from the anus and genitals appears;
- the patient feels unwell and tired;
- the skin and mucous membranes are constantly dry;
- diarrhea is present;
- sharp local pains in the body, which even after a certain time remain;
- with cancer of the kidneys and intestines, body temperature rises already in the first stage.
Varieties of cancer and its manifestations
An increase in body temperature in oncology is also observed in cervical cancer in women, when a tumor formation begins to actively germinate and spread through adjacent tissues. In this case, a woman often has blood discharge from the vagina outside the days of menstruation.
The temperature during lung oncology passes against the background of a strong and dry cough. As a result of such a cough, the patient’s voice begins to hoarse and wheeze, and sometimes even disappears with thyroid cancer. With cancer of the larynx, the patient becomes difficult to swallow, he has sore throats.
Skin rash
Human skin is also severely affected. They appear on them:
- bright spots;
- a birthmark or birthmark increases significantly in size, the edges become uneven, and the color changes;
- the patient feels unpleasant itching, burning and tingling in the area of neoplasms.
Fever in lung cancer
The temperature in lung cancer occurs due to a malignant process inside the bronchi themselves. The tumor begins to actively develop and spread, which leads to inflammation and deterioration of the patient's immune defense.
High temperature does not subside for many days. The patient develops pneumonia, colds, tonsillitis, as well as other diseases of a similar nature. Also, the patient should be alerted to the fact that during the treatment of the disease the temperature does not pass for a long time or returns immediately after the end of therapy.
Diagnostic measures
In order to recognize oncology at the first stage of its development, the following diagnostic methods are used:
- Clinical blood test - a decreased hemoglobin and an increased white blood cell count will indicate a malignant formation;
- biochemical blood test - a tumor formation changes the balance of substances in the blood, which can be easily determined by the test;
- test for tumor markers - a malignant tumor releases its vital products that can be detected in the patient’s blood;
- CT and MRI - with the help of such procedures, a specialist will be able to consider the size, shape of the tumor, as well as the breadth of the occupied spaces;
- biopsy - under the microscope in the laboratory, the tumor cells themselves are studied, the speed of the spread of cancer cells and their aggressiveness are detected.
Temperature after chemotherapy
Why does it arise? With this method of treatment, a large number of chemicals are introduced into the patient’s body, which, in addition to tumor cells, also affect healthy ones. High temperature after chemotherapy appears due to a sharp decrease in immunity.
Immediately after completing a course of chemotherapy, doctors prescribe immunotherapy to the patient, the purpose of which is to increase the general tone of the body and restore the previous immunity.
With poor immune defense, the patient's body becomes the main target for pathogens and various viruses. To maintain the patient’s condition, the specialist prescribes special medicines.
Stage One Cancer Treatment
What to do with temperature in oncology? First of all, it is important to go to the doctor’s appointment, who will determine the therapy and prescribe effective treatment. With radiotherapy, increased body temperature enhances the sensitivity of malignant cells to radiation, which brings good results. Recently, doctors have often begun to use local hyperthermia in conjunction with radiotherapy.
If there is a fever in oncology, education can be treated with the following methods:
- Direct exposure to the skin through heat.
- Intracavitary exposure - a specialized probe with a heating head is inserted inside a diseased organ (intestine, pharynx or stomach).
- Internal - in this case, a sensor is introduced into the patient, which, due to the reaction of the body, provokes a local temperature increase in oncology.
- Regional hyperthermia - heating of the whole limb is carried out: legs or arms.
- Global hyperthermia - extensive heating occurs, spreading throughout the body. It is most often used in the presence of an extensive lesion in stage four cancer, when metastases are actively spread to nearby organs.
It is important to remember that treating cancer at any stage, even at the initial stage, is important immediately to prevent deterioration of the patient's condition and achieve quick recovery. The doctor will help you choose an effective and comprehensive treatment.