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Cancer is one of the biggest killers worldwide. According to World Health Organisation figures, the disease has caused 7.4 million deaths (or around 13% of all deaths around the world) in 2004. The fatal types of the disease are cancers of the lung, stomach, colorectal, liver and breast.

Early detection can pave the way for effective treatment of the ailment. Here’s a checklist of how to go about detecting the dreaded disease early and the treatment options available:

Unexplained weight loss: A loss of 7-10 kg with or without loss of appetite mandatorily calls for a visit to the doctor. But weight loss can be a symptom of many other illnesses as well.

Pain: Usually pain does not occur during early stages of cancer, except those spreading to the bone. Pain takes place when cancer spreads, affecting organs and nerves. Lower pack pain could be a symptom in ovarian and colon cancers. Shoulder pain can indicate lung cancer. Headaches can mean cancer in the brain. Stomach pains can indicate stomach or pancreatic cancers, and many other types.

Continuous fatigue: This is one of the most commonly occuring symptoms. It is usually seen during advanced stage of cancer, but can take place in early stages in case of some cancers. Anemia is a condition associated with many types of cancers, especially those affecting the bowel.

Bowel changes: Constipation, diarrhea, blood in the stool, gas, thinner stools, or just a general overall change in bowel habits, could mean cancer symptoms also. These symptoms are seen in colon cancer, but are also related to other types.

Fever: Fever that is continuous or that occurs frequently can indicate blood cancer or other types.

Chronic cough: Cough that does not go away or becomes worse needs to be vetted by a doctor. Blood and/or mucus may accompany cough, indicating symptoms of lung cancer and also associated with other types.

Some cancers can be felt or seen through the skin — a lump on the breast or testicle can mean cancer in those locations. Skin cancer can occur from change in a wart or mole on the skin. Some oral cancers show white patches inside the mouth or white spots on the tongue.

Surgery: Surgery is one of the traditional forms of treatment for cancer. It is possible to completely cure a patient by surgically removing the cancer from the body. This happen while removing the prostate or in case of breast or testicle cancers. If it spreads, then surgery is unlikely to be the option. It has also been argued that surgery fuels cancer, propelling it to grow faster post-surgery. But there is no evidence to prove it.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses chemicals that interfere with the cell division process. It damages proteins or DNA and aids in cancer cells becoming self destructive. These treatments target all rapidly dividing cells (not only cancer cells). But normal cells can recover from chemical-induced damage whereas cancer cells cannot. This kind of treatment is given when cancer cells have spread as the chemical can travel throughout the body. Some common side effects from this type of treatment include hair loss, nausea and fatigue.

Radiation: Radiation treatment — known as radiotherapy — destroys cancer cells by focusing high-energy rays emitted from metals like radium or high-energy x-rays created in a special machine. During the early stages, there are severe side effects as normal and healthy cells are also effected. However, technology has been developed to accurately target cancer cells. It is mainly used to destroy leukemia and lymphoma. It can be given alone or in combination with other treatment.

Immunotherapy: Here the body’s immune system helps fight the tumor. Local immunotherapy injects a treatment (usually a protein) into an affected area, for example, to cause inflammation that leads to shrinking of a tumor. This form of treatment is usually new. Bone marrow transplant falls under this category.

Hormone therapy: Several cancers have been linked to some types of hormones, most notably breast and prostate cancers. Hormone therapy alters hormone production in the body so that cancer cells stop growing or are killed completely. Breast cancer hormone therapies often focus on reducing estrogen levels (a common drug for this is tamoxifen) and prostate cancer hormone therapies often lead to fall in testosterone levels. In addition, some leukemia and lymphoma cases can be treated with the hormone cortisone.

Gene therapy: This is the latest form of treatment and is not yet fully successful. The therapy replaces genes with ones that work. It tackles the root cause of cancer, but causes heavy damage to DNA. Efforts are being made to replace the damaged genes with working ones. In another method, cancer cells are damaged, paving the way for their self-destruction.