Hand symptoms caused by cancer can look just like one of several forms of arthritis. This is common when there are no other symptoms of any kind to suggest a more serious problem.

Sometimes the tumor gives off hormones and other chemicals that affect the body far from the site of the tumor. When this happens the patient might get a skin rash, joint pain and stiffness, fever, or other vague symptoms. This is part of a syndrome called a paraneoplastic syndrome.

Diagnosis can be delayed months to years. It isn't until the treatment fails to improve the patient's symptoms or the cancer gets much worse that a correct diagnosis can be made. Paraneoplastic syndromes are rare and unusual so the medical staff can be fooled easily.