vague in terms of the initial symptoms. some abdominal discomfort, some pain here and there. people may not pay attention to it. and that's part of the problem with this. it will grow as a result. >> how treatable is it if it's caught? >> well, if it's caught and caught early, and that typically means that it hasn't spread and it's smaller than two centimeters in size the tumor that is it can be very easily treatable. in fact just taking out the appendix at that point is pretty much the treatment. the problem is if it's grown larger than two centimeters and started to spread, and typically if it's going to spread it's spread to lymph nodes in the area for example then it becomes more problematic. that's when you start to need chemotherapy and other types of treatment. you also oftentimes have to have those lymph nodes taken out. so these are big operations and, you know very tough therapies, these chemotherapies. >> a small number of people have this. people with recurring stomach pains or pains around their appendix should be checked out. >> no question. and thankfully this is a very rare cancer.