When a lump has grown to a certain size, its presence is signaled in a number of ways.
• It presses on nearby tissue , which sometimes produces pain.
• It grows into nearby blood vessels, which may produce bleeding.
• It gets so large that it can be seen or felt.
• It causes a change in the way some organ works. Trouble swallowing (dysphagia), for example, might be the
sign of a tumor involving the esophagus, the passage between the throat and stomach. Hoarseness or change of
voice might indicate a tumor in the larynx, or voice box.
These symptoms—pressure, bleeding, a mass or interference with function—are reflected in the American Cancer Society's list of Seven Early Warning Signals:
