NHS shares 'silent killer' cancer symptoms that show up on your skin

NHS bosses are urging people to familiarise themselves with the common symptoms of a cancer known as a "silent killer". Pancreatic cancer is known as such because it is often difficult to detect until it is fairly progressed, and it has the highest mortality rate of all cancers.

Survival rates are poor, with 25% of patients surviving pancreatic cancer for a year or more and only 5% survive for 10 years or more after diagnosis. In a new post on X, formerly Twitter, NHS chiefs said: "Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be caused by lots of things, which can make it hard to diagnose.

"It’s important to be checked by a GP if things don’t feel normal for you, or if any symptoms change or get worse." The update then listed a number of common signs of pancreatic cancer, including two that are noticeable on the skin.

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A person suffering from pancreatic cancer may experience their skin turning yellow, it added, although this may not always show on brown or black skin, and the skin may also be itchy. Other symptoms include a high temperature or feeling hot or shivery, diarrhoea or constipation, or other changes in your poo, pain at the top part of your tummy and your back, the whites of your eyes are yellow, loss of appetite and/or unexplained weight loss, feeling tired or having no energy, feeling or being sick and symptoms of indigestion, and/or darker pee than usual.

Further NHS guidance adds: "If you have another condition like irritable bowel syndrome, you may get symptoms like these regularly. You might find you get used to them.

"But it's important to be checked by a GP if your symptoms change, get worse or do not feel normal for you."