anal cancer-causes?

xccoach
xccoach Member Posts: 2
edited January 2014 in Anal Cancer #1
Just wondering...how many of you have anal cancer that do not fall into the typical "at risk" categories?

Comments

  • Cheyenne
    Cheyenne Member Posts: 77
    #2
    Me
    I didn't have any known cause. I was told that I would be one of those that they would never know what caused it. He said they expected to find HPV but it wasn't there.
  • sephie
    sephie Member Posts: 650 Member
    #3
    bad luck
    i seemed to not have any reasons for contracting it except that i always did not heal quickly from any colds, stitches, etc after i fractured my knee cap, so perhaps i have a poor immune system. but of course, there is the thinking that the HPV can lay dormant and can be missed with pap smears.( have had 38 years of pap smears) but I have had multiple HPV tests at MDA and none was found. so my oncologist said, bad luck.... who knows what goes on in each of our bodies. there is not enough research on this disease to really figure it all out. sephie
  • xccoach
    xccoach Member Posts: 2
    #4
    sephie said:

    bad luck
    i seemed to not have any reasons for contracting it except that i always did not heal quickly from any colds, stitches, etc after i fractured my knee cap, so perhaps i have a poor immune system. but of course, there is the thinking that the HPV can lay dormant and can be missed with pap smears.( have had 38 years of pap smears) but I have had multiple HPV tests at MDA and none was found. so my oncologist said, bad luck.... who knows what goes on in each of our bodies. there is not enough research on this disease to really figure it all out. sephie

    Thanks
    Thanks for sharing. I almost didn't join this meassage board but it has been very informatitive reading all the previous threads. I have not been diagnosed with anything at the moment but something is definately wrong and I am returning to the gastroenterologist at the insistence of my GP, whose words were "This is NOT normal! We need to find out what's wrong." I am tired of living with this problem and need to find answers. Rectal bleeding, pain,itching, swelling, anal leakage, and sometimes anal mucos discharge for the past 2.5 years. Originally thought it was hemmorhoids. Also was told by 2 doctors that it might be MS (due to the anal leakage). Dr. said I have weak sphincter muscles. Colonoscopy a little over a yr. ago was clear (but I have since learned from reading on here that is more common than one would think to have a clear colonoscopy and things really NOT be ok). I am now 47 (problems started at 44)never smoked,my husband and I both were virgins when we got married. I think not having the main risk factors has kept drs. from looking in this direction. I have had several DRE's and checks for fecal blood, but it didn't show up at that time. I have wondered if the gastroenterologist didn't believe me about the blood. I have been on a totally gluten free diet since late Oct. (thinking it might be Celiacs)and it seems like I am a little better, but yet I still have all the same problems. I have to wear a pad all the time. I have cried and cried because I'm so tired of this and not knowing what is wrong.
  • AZANNIE
    AZANNIE Member Posts: 445 Member
    #5
    No risk factors
    No risk factors for me either.


    Ann
  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #6
    xccoach said:

    Thanks
    Thanks for sharing. I almost didn't join this meassage board but it has been very informatitive reading all the previous threads. I have not been diagnosed with anything at the moment but something is definately wrong and I am returning to the gastroenterologist at the insistence of my GP, whose words were "This is NOT normal! We need to find out what's wrong." I am tired of living with this problem and need to find answers. Rectal bleeding, pain,itching, swelling, anal leakage, and sometimes anal mucos discharge for the past 2.5 years. Originally thought it was hemmorhoids. Also was told by 2 doctors that it might be MS (due to the anal leakage). Dr. said I have weak sphincter muscles. Colonoscopy a little over a yr. ago was clear (but I have since learned from reading on here that is more common than one would think to have a clear colonoscopy and things really NOT be ok). I am now 47 (problems started at 44)never smoked,my husband and I both were virgins when we got married. I think not having the main risk factors has kept drs. from looking in this direction. I have had several DRE's and checks for fecal blood, but it didn't show up at that time. I have wondered if the gastroenterologist didn't believe me about the blood. I have been on a totally gluten free diet since late Oct. (thinking it might be Celiacs)and it seems like I am a little better, but yet I still have all the same problems. I have to wear a pad all the time. I have cried and cried because I'm so tired of this and not knowing what is wrong.

    xccoach
    Welcome to this board. I'm sorry you are having some troubling symptoms that have not been connected to anything yet. I agree with your GP, they are not normal, and sound so familiar to some of those that I had prior to my anal cancer diagnosis. I would suggest that you seek an opinion from a colorectal specialist. Anal cancer is often missed because of a few reasons: 1) Some who have it do not have any of the risk factors, such as you and myself included; 2) Colonoscopies often miss anal tumors; 3) There are a lot of doctors who are not familiar with this disease and are in denial that their patient could possibly have it, some taking the easy way out by diagnosing them with bleeding hemorrhoids.

    Keep seeking opinions until something is identified. What you are describing seems to indicate that something is not right. I hope it's something minor. I wish you well.

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