# A Question About Cancer **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674 "2023-03-26T15:23:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/1 "2023-03-26T15:23:08Z")
Is, or can it be, that depression is a symptom of cancer, any of them? I don’t mean mental/emotional depression, although it would seem that would be a logical thought, to me anyway. I mean physical depression, lack of energy to do things, maybe cardiopulmonary system isn’t working quite right or unexplained weight loss. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/2 "2023-03-26T15:29:08Z")
It certainly was for me. If you’re worried, I hope you can get checked out. Catching it early makes a big difference. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/3 "2023-03-26T15:33:41Z")
My first wife eventually died of metastatic breast cancer. She had the original problem, treatment followed by a decade’s remission, a first set of metastases, treatment followed by a second 8-year remission, then the final set of mets that eventually proved unstoppable after another 8 years’ treatment. At each of the three diagnoses of fresh active disease, it was apparent in hindsight that she’d been dragged down by something for the previous couple of years unnoticed. Not sick exactly, just not really well. As if fighting off a cold, but not quite the same. Got tired more easily, had less ambition. Not emotionally depressed, not in any discomfort, just kinda puny. Separate to that anecdote: Unexplained weight loss is a \*_big_ red flag for cancer. Assuming no change in diet. Here’s another possibility: During the time my wife was going though her first set of mets and treatment I had some similar puny, weight loss, draggy symptoms. Not sick-but-not-well-either. Turned out to be undiagnosed diabetes, not cancer. Either way, the OP should get their situation checked out ASAP. There is no significant bodily malfunction whose treatment gets easier the longer you wait. Rather the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/4 "2023-03-26T15:53:08Z")
Appreciate the thoughts yall, but nothing like that. Just something that’s been rattling around in my head for a while. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/5 "2023-03-26T17:27:05Z")
I get that. I occasionally find myself wondering if there are people who have had undiagnosed cancer that’d gone into remission without them knowing what had been wrong. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/6 "2023-03-26T18:00:51Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > I mean physical depression, lack of energy to do things, maybe cardiopulmonary system isn’t working quite right I would get the cardiopulmonary system checked, also. In my case it was asymmetric cardiac myopathy finally getting around to becoming symptomatic (though the symptoms didn’t include weight loss). There could be other heart or lung problems. Maybe you’ve already done that, and that’s why you’re now asking about cancer? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/7 "2023-03-26T18:26:51Z")
There are cases where cancer goes into remission without any treatment: > **[How Common Is Spontaneous Remission of Cancer?](https://www.verywellhealth.com/spontaneous-remission-of-lung-cancer-a-rare-miracle-3971875)** > > We know that the spontaneous remission of cancer sometimes occurs. How often does cancer go away without treatment and what are the reasons why? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/8 "2023-03-26T18:41:19Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > I mean physical depression, lack of energy to do things, maybe cardiopulmonary system isn’t working quite right or unexplained weight loss. Certainly, poor health can cause physical depression and lack of energy; and poor health can in turn be caused by many things, including but not limited to cancer. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/9 "2023-03-26T20:21:13Z")
Yes. Cancer itself can be physically wearing, tiring, and thetefore physically depressive. ---
**Author:** ![Feurmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/779978/32.png) [@Feurmann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feurmann)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/10 "2023-03-26T23:20:13Z")
I have stage 4 prostate cancer, being successfully treated. Part of that treatment, for me, is a combination anti-depressant and seeing a therapist. The therapist uses cognitive behaviour therapy, which focuses on the client identifying unhelpful thought patterns such as catastrophising. I feel one needs to consider the impact of a mental illness such as depression on those closest to us. My wife is stressed about my cancer. Before I began the treatment outlined above, I had been quite distressed about my illness. I am now much more tranquil, and (I think) easier to live with. I find this combination very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/11 "2023-03-27T02:44:20Z")
Good to hear you’re managing this well. Cancer is a downright bitch for the patient physically, and for both members of the couple mentally / emotionally. Psych care is less part of the standard than it ought to be. Wishing you a successful medical outcome and both of you a successful coping. Those are three different wins, and it takes all three to have a good overall result. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/12 "2023-03-27T03:21:01Z")
Physical exhaustion was the _only_ symptom my friend S. had. Unfortunately, her PCP was a naturopath who kept putting her on different supplements and then, when S. was too tired to make it up the stairs to her apartment, the NP suggested a test for heavy metals. 🙄 I kept telling S. to go to an MD. Finally her idiot naturopath sent her to the ER for tests. The ER people admitted her. Diagnosis: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, stage IV. Her spleen was loaded with cancer. That was almost four years ago. She’s still alive and kicking. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/13 "2023-03-27T03:33:09Z")
naturopath = Latin for QUACK. One might have killed my wife too. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/14 "2023-03-28T15:18:26Z")
Re: alive, I’m glad for that! ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-cancer/981674/15 "2023-03-28T16:05:01Z")
Damn. I’m sorry. I really wish they were illegal, or at the very least, that insurance didn’t cover their fees. > [@susan](#): > > Re: alive, I’m glad for that! I am, too! The chemo was really effective.