hearing voices, mysterious cravings for lettuce… and even the behavior of a dog were “symptoms” in some bizarre cases

Cancer can be hard to detect until it’s too late, so it’s essential to know the potential symptoms – but some are stranger than others.

From voices giving instructions to see a doctor, to mysterious lettuce cravings and even the strange behavior of the family’s beloved pet, doctors have encountered some truly bizarre cases.

Here, MailOnline documents some of the strangest and most common signs of a devastating disease that strikes nearly 400,000 Britons and two million Americans each year.

Hearing strange voices and languages

Suddenly hearing people who aren’t there is a potentially terrifying sign that you’re losing control of your mental health.

But for some people, hearing voices helped save their lives and alert them to the fact that they had cancer.

In one astonishing case, a terrified woman was given detailed instructions from a person who did not exist, telling her to see a doctor.

The woman, known only as AB in records, was sitting at home in 1984 when she suddenly heard voices in her head.

They said, “Don’t be afraid. I know it must be shocking for you to hear me talk to you like this, but it’s the easiest way I could find. My friend and I worked at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and we’d like to help you.”

AB had never been to this hospital and, panicking, she asked for help from her GP who referred her urgently to a psychiatrist. He prescribed her medication that made the voices disappear.

However, they returned while she was on holiday and encouraged her to return to England, even giving her an address to go to – which turned out to be the CT scan department of a London hospital.

When she arrived, the voices told her that she had a brain tumor and that she needed to get tested, which she did.

The CT scan shockingly revealed a meningioma — a type of tumor that grows in the membrane supporting the brain — measuring 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches.

A neurosurgeon recommended surgery, which AB and the voices agreed to. The surgery was a success, and when AB woke up, she said she heard the voices say, “We’re glad we helped you. Goodbye.” She never heard them again.

Dr Ikechukwu Obialo Azuonye, ​​who documented the case in the British Medical Journal, suggested that AB may have subconsciously known that something was wrong and this was manifesting itself through voices.

A more recent case involved a nurse who thought her colleagues were speaking another language during a work meeting, but it was actually a sign of a brain tumor.

Lucy Woodhouse, 43, said she suffered from severe hangover-like headaches and struggled to read aloud before her diagnosis.

But during a meeting with colleagues, the nurse, from Hereford, found herself unable to understand what others were saying. Tests later revealed she had a meningioma the size of a golf ball.

She recalls: “I felt like I didn’t understand anything people were saying. I’m usually very reactive, but they might as well have been speaking Chinese. I felt like they were speaking another language.”

In May, she underwent major surgery to remove the tumor, which was growing just three millimeters from her optic nerve and could have left her blind.

Mysterious food cravings or addictions

Cravings for sweets like chocolate are common, but a sudden urge to consume less desirable foods could be a sign of cancer.

Such was the case for Elsie Campbell, who initially thought her sudden urge to eat four whole heads of lettuce a day in 2004 was a strange but harmless passing fad.

Luckily for Mrs. Campbell, her husband Jim, a research scientist, suspected there might be something more behind it.

He discovered that lettuce contains a particular nutrient, a natural antioxidant called sulforaphane, which breast cancer patients lack. This prompted him to ask his wife to get checked out, and she discovered a lump on one of her breasts.

A visit to the doctor later confirmed that she had the disease.

Thankfully, Mrs Campbell, 52, an accounts assistant from Derby, has made a full recovery thanks to the cancer being caught early.

She recalls: “I woke up one day and suddenly wanted lettuce.

“I had always eaten it in salads, but suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. I could eat three or four whole salads a day. I would eat a whole iceberg lettuce at work and sit on the bus home thinking about eating more and more.

“I would come home, cut a fruit into pieces and eat it like a watermelon. I knew something was wrong, and my husband and sons started worrying about me.”

She added: “It’s only now that I realise that my body was making me eat lettuce to fight cancer. It was like my body was trying to heal itself.”

“Oddly enough, since the lump was removed, I haven’t had the urge to eat a single leaf of lettuce – the cravings have completely disappeared.”

Man’s best friend detects cancer

Any dog ​​owner will attest to the power of their dog’s nose, especially when it comes to sniffing out potential snacks.

However, for some pet owners, their humble dog has managed to detect a serious illness.

One of those people was grandmother Lindsey Thwaites, from Chapeltown, South Yorkshire.

She claims her annoying dog Brian “wouldn’t leave her alone” and was constantly sniffing her bottom.

Ms Thwaites, 51, was eventually scared to see a doctor and was diagnosed with anal cancer.

She recalls: “Brian saved my life by nagging me, pushing me to go see my GP.

“Brian only comes for love when he wants it, but he never leaves me alone.”

Ms Thwaites examined herself and discovered a marble-sized lump in her genitals. She visited her GP and was diagnosed with stage 3 anal cancer.

Another woman with a similar experience is Trisha Allison, 50, from Wilford, Nottingham, who blamed her breast cancer on her collie cross, Luna.

She remembers how she was lying down watching television when Luna jumped on her and He continued to visibly sniff and headbutt her on the chest, something Mrs Allison said she never normally did.

About 45 minutes later, she started feeling pain in her chest and decided to get checked out. After deciding that “something was wrong,” she went to her GP, who sent her to a hospital where they performed a mammogram and an MRI.

The married mother-of-two subsequently underwent a biopsy and was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks later in April last year.

Studies have shown that dogs can detect cancer in some cases.

It is thought that if a dog detects cancer in its owner, it may change its behavior by paying more attention to the owner, sniffing or “comforting” the owner by gently licking the owner’s hands or feet, or lying down next to the owner for no apparent reason.

The Most Common Signs of Cancer You Should Be Aware of

The cases described above are notable for their unusual nature, but for most people the signs of cancer will likely be more mundane, but no less serious.

Professor Karol Sikora, a world-renowned oncologist with more than 40 years of experience, said people should be aware of classic symptoms like lumps, bleeding and changes in bowel habits.

He said: “Anything that persists for more than two weeks, any symptom, you need to do something.”

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He added that men and older people are traditionally less likely to talk to a doctor about potential cancer symptoms and should take the signs their bodies are sending them seriously.

Rachel Orritt, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, added: “There are over 200 different types of cancer, so there is no ‘typical’ cancer symptom.

“Sometimes symptoms affect specific areas of the body, such as the stomach or skin. But signs can also be more general and include unexplained weight loss, fatigue or aches and pains.”

“You know your body best, so talk to your doctor if anything…