What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in women in the United States, second only to skin cancer.

After lung cancer, breast cancer claims the lives of more American women than any other type of cancer. Although men also develop breast cancer, it is much more common in women.

It is not fully understood why some women develop breast cancer and others do not, but there are some factors that increase risk. These factors include:

older age;

being overweight;

taking hormone replacement or birth control pills;

not having children or having children after age 35;

alcohol consumption; and

having your first period before age 12, or reaching menopause after age 55 years.

All women should have annual mammograms after the age of 40 years, or younger if they have a family or personal history of breast cancer.

In addition, doctors recommend performing breast self-examinations to look for breast lumps or other signs of breast cancer. This will allow for detection when breast cancer is at its most treatable stage.
Symptoms of breast cancer include:

a lump or thickening in the breast that feels different from the tissue around it;

blood or bloody discharge from the nipple;

changes in breast size, shape or appearance;

differences in the skin on the breast, such as dimpling of skin;

flaking, scaling or peeling of the areola (pigmented skin around the nipple) or other breast skin;

a nipple that is inverted (turned inward) when it was not before; and

redness or pitting of the breast skin, which gives it the appearance of the skin of an orange.

If you notice any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor to be screened for breast cancer.

In addition to mammography, doctors test for breast cancer using ultrasound, MRI and biopsy.

Breast cancer is very treatable if detected early. Talk to your doctor about whether your risk level would warrant annual screenings. In addition, if you have significant family history of breast cancer, you may wish to discuss genetic testing for BRCA gene mutations with your doctor.

References:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cancer/basics/symptoms/con-20029275

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/breastcancer.html