Woman, 23, had a ‘burning sensation’ in her stomach. It was the first sign of a rare cancer
In 2023, Sydney Towle, then 23, developed a bump on her abdomen that she could feel. When she exercised, she experienced a stinging in her stomach. Worried that she developed a hernia, Towle visited an urgent care clinic.“The doctor thought I had a hernia, but he was like, ‘I’ll send you in for an ultrasound, just in case,’” Towle, now 25, of New York City, tells TODAY.com. “I got an ultrasound, and it showed a solid mass.”Follow-up tests revealed Towle had bile duct cancer, also called cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that forms on the network of tubes that link the liver, gallbladder and small intestine, according to the National Cancer Institute. According to the American Cancer Society, bile duct cancers are most often diagnosed in people in their 70s. Towle felt stunned by the news.“I’ve never heard of bile duct […]