You might be familiar that cancer is the name for a group of diseases that develop when the body’s cells start growing in an uncontrolled way and can be seen spreading into the body’s tissues. Breast cancer is cancer that starts to develop in the breast tissue. The breast cancer begins in the tissues that make up the breasts. The cancer cells can be seen form a mass called a tumor. They may also invade surrounding tissues and spread to lymph nodes. Discussing the most common types of breast cancer:
#1 Ductal carcinoma: Ductal carcinoma, as the name suggests, starts in the cells lining the milk ducts and make up the majority of breast cancers.
#2 Lobular carcinoma: It is cancer that begins in lobules and starts to spread into surrounding tissues. About 1 in 10 breast cancers are this type.
Symptoms of breast cancer:
Women with breast cancer may experience some type of changes in their breast, but most of them do not show any of these signs when diagnosed. So worry not, Many times, breast signs or symptoms can be caused by a medical condition that is not cancer.
The first sign of breast cancer can be seen as a new lump or mass in the breast that you or your doctor can feel. A lump is painless, hard, and depicts uneven edges. But in some cases, cancers can be tender and soft. So we recommend you to have anything unusual checked by your doctor.
The signs and symptoms that should be discussed with a doctor include:
1. Breast lump
- In most of the cases, the breast lump is seen as the first symptom women experience. A lump is painless doesn’t change and don’t disappear after periods of the menstrual cycle.
- Very often breast lumps are harmless but they can be also cancerous. Menopausal women should be more careful regarding the appearance of a breast lump. Usually, breast cancerous lump is referred to as hard, irregular in shape and is believed to be different from the rest of the breast tissue.
- We recommend you to pay special attention to lump in the armpit -small, hard or tender lumps in the armpit could be a signal that breast cancer in your body has spread to the lymph nodes.
2. Changes in breast shape or size or Enlarged lymph nodes
- Inflammatory breast cancer is believed to change the appearance of the breasts. This change can occur suddenly.
- Since this cancer causes swelling and inflammation, it is very common to experience breast enlargement or thickness. One affected breast may appear larger than the other breast or feel hard and heavy at the same time. Some women may experience breast shrinkage in which breast decreases in size.
- We advise you to speak with your doctor to rule out inflammatory breast cancer.
- In case you suspect the disease, you can also check the lymph nodes under your arm and above your collarbone if there are any signs of swelling.
3. Breast pain
- In case you experience sharp unexpected breast pain especially if it is combined with some breast tenderness then it might be the sign.Pain could be in only one part of the breast or in the armpit and not in other.
- If breast pain in one breast is combined with breast lump also then you should better visit your doctor to get help.
4. Skin dimpling
- Another sign of breast cancer is skin dimpling or we can say, pitted skin around the breast.
- Dimpling is a sign we can see that the skin resembles the skin of an orange peel. It can be developed over the whole breast or in a small area also.
5. Breast nipple changes
- Cancer could change one side nipple shape, appearance, size and position. Some women may notice some sort of nipple rash on one side which doesn’t depict any logical reasons.
- We recommend you to pay attention to discharge from nipples also. Spontaneous and unalarmed dark brown discharge from one nipple is a sign of breast cancer.
- Crusting ulcers on the nipple is a rare symptom of breast cancer and is also called “Paget disease of the nipple”.
Don’t start panicking if you see these signs, as these changes also can be signs of less serious conditions that are not cancerous, such as an infection or some kind of cyst. It’s important to get any breast changes checked out by a doctor as soon as possible.
