BMJ: Older men who love smoking have lost a significant weight in six months, and the risk of cancer has increased significantly.

About 1.5% of adults attending primary care have a record of accidental weight loss (WL).
Compared to people who did not have a record of accidental weight loss, these people were three times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer within three to six months of the first recorded accidental weight loss: men with unexpected weight loss were three times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer within three months, twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer within six months, and women with unexpected weight loss were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer within three months.
and advanced cancers are associated with unexpected weight loss.
risk comes from lymphoma, primary cancer, or cancer of the pancreas, gastroesophway, lung, intestines, or kidneys.
the first three to six months, the likelihood of a cancer diagnosis was lower than in people who had no record of accidental weight loss.
recently published a study in BMJ that quantifies the predicted value of accidental weight loss (WL) for cancer based on the patient's age, sex, smoking status, and clinical characteristics (symptoms, signs, and abnormal blood test results).
the study was designed to study diagnostic accuracy.
from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2012, the study included 63,973 adults (over 18 years of age) with the code accidental WL.
the study was a cancer diagnosis within six months of the earliest weight loss code (index date).
code that determines additional clinical characteristics within 3 months of the index date to 1 month after the index date.
accuracy measurements included positive and negative ratios, positive predictions, and diagnostic odds.
results show that of the 63,973 adults who accidentally lost weight, 37,215 (58.2%) were women, 33,167 (51.8%) were over 60 years of age and 16,793 (26.3%) had smoked.
908 (1.4 per cent) were diagnosed with cancer within six months of the target date, of whom 882 (97.1 per cent) were aged 50 or over.
an urgent survey of male smokers aged 50 or over had a positive cancer prediction higher than the 3 per cent threshold recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, but not for women of any age.
10 additional clinical characteristics were associated with cancer in men and 11 in women.
men than from 1.86 (95% confidence interval 1.32 to 2.62) to 6.10 (3.44) of abdominal lumps for non-cardiac chest pain from 1.62 (1.15 to 2.29) for women with back pain to 20.9 (10.7 to 40.9) for jaundice.
cancer-related abnormal blood test results include low albumin levels (4.67, 4.14 to 5.27) and plateplates (4.57, 3.88 to 5.38), and calcium (4.28) The values of 3.05 to 6.02), the total number of white blood cells (3.76, 3.30 to 4.28) and the C-reactive protein (3.59, 3.31 to 3.89) increased.
but isolated blood test results normally do not rule out the possibility of cancer.
clinical characteristics associated with accidental weight loss are associated with multiple cancer sites.
therefore, adults who experience accidental weight loss in primary care have a 2 per cent or lower risk of cancer and are not worthy of a survey in accordance with current UK guidelines.
, however, for male smokers aged 50 or over and patients with both clinical characteristics, the risk of cancer deserves to be referred for an invasive study.
clinical characteristics that are usually associated with specific cancer sites are markers of several types of cancer when weight loss occurs unexpectedly.
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