Hemorrhoids and Rectal Cancer: A Systematic Review of Clinical Overlap, Diagnostic Misclassification, and Early Detection Strategies for Primary Care

Description

Mei Tu, Wei Jiang, and Yangfeng Huang reviewed how rectal cancer hides behind a hemorrhoid diagnosis, in a 2026 paper. The two conditions share bleeding, changed bowel habits, and discomfort, so cancer is often first read as piles. The team searched three major databases for studies since 2018 and kept forty-six of moderate to high quality. They sorted findings around overlap, causes of error, and early detection, aiming at primary care doctors.

Bleeding was the commonest shared symptom. Dark red blood, lasting pain, and unexplained weight loss pointed toward cancer. Errors grew from clinical inertia, skipping the finger examination, and poor access to endoscopy. The authors gather these warnings into guidance for front-line practice. Their message: take rectal bleeding seriously, examine, and refer, because early cancer found is survival gained.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13544518