{"id":233774,"date":"2026-04-03T17:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233774\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T17:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:38:13","slug":"3-reasons-appendix-cancer-is-hard-to-diagnose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233774\/","title":{"rendered":"3 reasons appendix cancer is hard to diagnose"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until\u00a0about 15 years ago,\u00a0appendix cancer<\/a>\u00a0was often lumped together with colon cancer<\/a>. That\u2019s because the appendix is technically part of the colon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today,\u00a0though,\u00a0doctors recognize\u00a0appendix cancer\u00a0as\u00a0its own\u00a0separate\u00a0disease,\u00a0with distinct genetic drivers\u00a0at the molecular level\u00a0that differ from those of\u00a0colorectal cancers<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even so, appendix cancer can still be difficult to diagnose. Why?<\/p>\n

Here are three reasons gastrointestinal medical oncologist\u00a0John Paul Shen, M.D.<\/a>,\u00a0and gastrointestinal surgical oncologist\u00a0Beth Helmink, M.D., Ph.D.<\/a>,\u00a0shared during a recent episode of UT MD Anderson\u2019s Cancerwise podcast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Early-stage appendix cancer doesn\u2019t cause any symptoms<\/p>\n

The first reason appendix cancer is hard to diagnose is that, unlike the cancers of the gut, it doesn\u2019t cause symptoms like pain, bleeding, nausea\/vomiting or constipation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some cases, an appendix tumor may cause appendicitis,\u201d explains Shen. \u201cThen, you would have pain and go to an emergency room. The problem is, it\u2019s otherwise a very silent disease. So, unless a tumor is near the very tip of your appendix, you might not even know you have one until it\u2019s already spread<\/a> throughout your abdomen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cancerwise<\/p>\n

\"Cancerwise<\/p>\n

Why are more young adults getting appendix cancer?<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Colonoscopies\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0detect\u00a0appendix cancer<\/p>\n

Another reason appendix cancer is hard to diagnose? There\u2019s currently no\u00a0screening test<\/a>\u00a0for it. It can\u2019t be detected by a\u00a0colonoscopy<\/a>, the recommended\u00a0screening test for colorectal cancer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to me so frustrated sometimes, because their colonoscopy didn\u2019t show anything,\u201d notes Helmink. \u201cWhat they don’t realize is that the scope itself is bigger than the appendix. So, you can\u2019t actually look inside of it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Appendix cancer is\u00a0often\u00a0misdiagnosed as\u00a0ovarian cancer<\/p>\n

Appendix cancer is also difficult to diagnose because its\u00a0vague symptoms<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 such as\u00a0bloating<\/a>\u00a0and abdominal discomfort \u2014 mimic\u00a0those of ovarian cancer<\/a>. It also spreads in the same way \u2014 through a liquid or gelatinous fluid that seeps between the abdominal organs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our female patients are\u00a0misdiagnosed as having ovarian cancer<\/a>,\u201d says Helmink. \u201cThat\u2019s because a lot of these tumors spread to the ovaries. So, sometimes, people do have ovarian masses. They\u2019re just coming from the appendix, not the ovary itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To hear the entire discussion between Helmink and Shen \u2014 including which patients make the best candidates for surgery, how molecular testing is sometimes making targeted therapy and immunotherapy a treatment option, and which well-established chemotherapy drug is making a comeback against high-grade mucinous appendix cancer \u2014 listen to\u00a0the podcast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online<\/a>\u00a0or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until\u00a0about 15 years ago,\u00a0appendix cancer\u00a0was often lumped together with colon cancer. That\u2019s because the appendix is technically part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[90393,1145,1143,1142,82904,56,58,57,1148,2822],"class_list":{"0":"post-233774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-appendix-cancer","9":"tag-caregivers","10":"tag-diagnosis-treatment","11":"tag-family-friends","12":"tag-gastrointestinal","13":"tag-houston","14":"tag-houston-headlines","15":"tag-houston-news","16":"tag-patients","17":"tag-survivors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}