Dr. Bea Bakshi, a primary care physician and the cofounder and CEO of cancer detection company C the Signs, urged patients to seek medical care when subtle symptoms persist or remain unexplained.

Unexplained pains, fatigue and digestive upset can indicate an underlying health issue, and subtle, persistent symptoms can be early warnings of cancer. Exhaustion, fever, unexplained aches and pains, and bloating can be early signs of cancer. “In the early stages, cancer is really innocuous in the sense of it's not severe enough for you to think something significant is happening or rush to the ER,” said Bakshi.

Minor health annoyances that last about a week and then fade often have simple explanations, including too many late nights, a bad allergy season or the common cold. Patients should follow up to seek additional care and testing if symptoms persist for longer than a week or two. Bakshi said symptoms persisting for more than a few weeks are particularly concerning.

“We can't normalize things just because they're subtle or they're not necessarily causing us to scream out of pain,” she said. “It doesn't need to be serious, but it's the fact that it's unexplained and persistent, we should be investigating it.”

Diagnosing cancer in the earliest stages can be tricky since it can take years to develop, and patients may not notice anything is wrong until the disease has advanced enough to cause problems. Cancer treatment is most successful when the disease is caught early. “It's very likely that they've been experiencing changes for quite a broad amount of time, actually,” Bakshi said. “Either they haven't recognized it, or they've normalized it.”

Bakshi pointed to symptoms that should prompt a medical visit, including rectal bleeding and breast lumps. Rectal bleeding is one of the most frequent indicators of colorectal cancer, especially in younger patients, and bleeding when using the bathroom can appear as bright red spots on the toilet paper, in the toilet bowl, or mixed into the stool.

“Things like a lump in your breast or rectal bleeding, even if it's a first episode, even if it's a very small amount of blood, you should see a healthcare professional straight away. You shouldn't wait,” she said.

Seeing a doctor right away can also help rule out hemorrhoids and other common sources of rectal bleeding. A lump or mass in the breast area is a potential indicator of breast cancer, which is also on the rise in young adults. Colorectal cancer and breast cancer are on the rise in people under 40, according to the facts provided.

Many patients are intimidated by the healthcare system and resort to Googling symptoms at 4 a.m. instead of making a doctor's appointment. The average time for a patient to be diagnosed with cancer is about five months, according to Bakshi. “A lot of that journey is actually patients going back and forth, convincing people to take their symptoms seriously,” Bakshi said. She said her goal is to improve healthcare access and make it easier for both doctors and patients to identify early symptoms of cancer.