Cancer Explained by Richard Fox

Author:Richard Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Australia
Published: 2008-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Symptoms and signs

Breast cancer is usually first noticed when a woman finds a painless lump in the breast. The most common location is in the upper outer part of the breast, and the lump is often first felt in the bath or shower when fingers are soapy and lumps are more easily felt.

By far the majority of breast lumps are not cancer. However, when a woman first notices a lump in a breast, she should have it examined by a doctor. If necessary, the woman should be sent for further investigation or for a specialist opinion.

Other features of breast cancer may be a change in the position or shape of a nipple (called retraction or inversion); puckering or ulceration of skin over the breast, especially if over a lump; discharge of blood from a nipple or discharge of other fluid from a nipple not associated with a pregnancy or lactation; redness of a nipple; or a change in the size of one breast. Occasionally the first indication of breast cancer is a red inflamed breast resembling breast infection (acute mastitis). If an acute mastitis develops for no apparent reason or does not settle down with appropriate treatment (including antibiotics), the possibility of an underlying cancer must be considered.

Sometimes breast cancer may first be discovered after finding a lump in the armpit (axilla) or a cancer lump (secondary) in another organ such as in lungs (seen in a chest X-ray) or the liver or bone.

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