TAMPA, Fla. - August marks Appendiceal Cancer Awareness Month. It's a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer with only 3,000 patients in the U.S. diagnosed annually.

It's also a difficult form of cancer to detect, because there's no screening process to help diagnose it. Symptoms often don’t appear until the disease has progressed, and even then, they can mimic other conditions.

Dig deeper:

Dr. Sean Dineen, a surgical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, said it’s appearing more often in patients under 40 years old, despite being historically found in those over 60.

"Sometimes it can be found incidentally after an appendectomy and sometimes those don't need further treatment," Dineen said. "But sometimes, it can present after a significant tumor has grown in the abdomen."

Local pers

See Full Page