I've taken a probably less tradition approach. Doctors to my mind will start out thinking along the lines of the more common diagnoses it seems before progressing along to the heavy hitter ones. I just went ahead and paid out of pocket for a serum test that looks for 50 cancers. At the time I did this last year a clinical trial was still being conducted on the test about 50 miles away from me. Had I driven there they would have overseen any necessary follow-up care. This test isn't infallible by any means, or suit everybody. There is a cheaper version I hear that offers less in the way of test results.

I had a lot of troubling symptoms, wasn't satisfied with my doctor's pace, felt age was no longer on my side, so I went this route. I discussed it with a specialist doctor (I self pay also to see) first and she said in a very matter of fact way that some of her patients choose to take this test and some of her patients don't. I went for it and have found the results thankfully reassuring while my primary doctor moves along at their set pace.