The Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Watch for any changes in your body, and tell your doctor if you notice anything alarming.

The symptoms of breast cancer can be a simple lump on the breast. You can find the lump anywhere on the breast. However, most lumps are in the upper outer part of the breast.

Most of the breast tissue is located in those areas so pay special attention when you do a breast self exam. Lumps are usually hard and can indent the skin on your breast tissue. Look for a dimpling of breast tissue near the area you find a lump.

Another common system is just swelling of the breast. The breast can be painful and can also be red on the skin. This is called inflammatory breast cancer. It can be a very severe kind of breast cancer to have. See your doctor if you get any swelling and redness of the breast tissue.

Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms of breast cancer because the lump can be deep within the tissue. Doctors need tests like mammograms or ultrasounds to see if there are suspicious lumps or calcifications deep in the breast tissue. Women over age 40 should have a baseline mammogram. Women over age 50 should have mammograms every one to two years.

Watch for any changes in your body,
and tell your doctor if you notice anything alarming.

Women who have a family history of breast cancer should be more careful about checking for breast cancer. Some doctors believe that a self exam cannot detect breast cancer symptoms well enough. They recommend just having annual mammograms to check for cancer.

You might want to be tested for genetic markers of breast cancer if you have a family history of breast cancer. You might also want to be more diligent in checking for cancer. Look out for a dimpling of your breast skin, inversion of the nipple, breast pain or breast tenderness that does not go away.

Your doctor can examine you for lumps that show signs of breast cancer. An ultrasound can be done to see if the lump is made of fluid or solid tissue. Surgeons usually remove solid tissue lumps. Those are later biopsied to see if they are cancerous. You can have some lumps that show up at the same time of your cycle but go away. These are not usually cancerous.

Your breast pain, if you have any, may include tenderness, an aching pain or sharp, stabbing pains. If the pain is present at times not before your menstrual period or is in just one breast, see your doctor for an evaluation of the pain.

What you need to know about your diagnosis, and what to do next

You should talk to your doctor if you have any signs of breast cancer. You can get help for the condition as soon as you talk to your doctor. Tests can be done to rule out or show cancer. Either way, there is help for you.

You need to know that 90% of breast lumps are not cancerous at all. Even so, it's a good idea to have all breast lumps checked out by a doctor. Many breast lumps are filled with fluid and can be drained if they are painful. Other breast lumps are just changes that happen before your period and go away after the period is over with.

"You should talk to your doctor if you have any signs of breast cancer."

Young women can have a benign lump made from fibrous connective tissue. It can be removed by local surgery and shows up as benign under the microscope.

Pay attention to the lumps that thicken the skin of your breast or that change the shape of your breast. Other lumps to worry about are those that dimple the skin of your breast or that change the shape of your nipple. Any bloody discharge from your nipple should be a concern for you and your doctor. Any time you see a rash around your nipple or areola, you should tell your doctor.

Swelling or lumps in the armpit can be breast cancer. Those are from lymph nodes involved with cancerous tissue. If a lymph node in the armpit is involved in cancer, the prognosis isn't as good. See your doctor as soon as possible.