Just my Thoughts

Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer is one of those diseases that many have heard of and will commonly know at least one woman who has been affected. This Cancer can have a variety of symptoms and diagnosis, but the most common is finding a lump in the Breast or Breast area. At this stage it should be pointed out that ONLY a qualified medical expert can accurately diagnose if a lump is cancerous. You should consult as soon as practicable.

As stated previously though there are other signs such as:
Breast:
Change of size or shape Dimpling of the skin Lump or thickening Nipple:
Becomes inverted (turned in) Lump or thickening Bloodstained discharge (very rare)
you may also have a swelling in the armpit.

Most woman should examine their breasts regularly (similar to the advice given to men about their testicles) and the majority of tumours are found by the individual concerned. Another possibility is Mammography, which can detect changes in the breast tissue before they develop into a lump large enough to be felt with the fingers.

Treatment
The treatment of breast cancer depends on many factors, including:
The stage of the disease
Your age
Whether or not you have had the menopause
The size of the tumour
What the cancer cells look like under the microscope (the grade)
Whether they have receptors for certain hormones, or proteins such as HER2, on their surface.

It may seem crass (or insensitive) to suggest that in the earliest stages surgery may be “all” that is needed. Whilst clearly upsetting to the indivual, this may stop the cancer before it becomes more serious. However, surgery is often followed by radiotherapy to the remaining breast tissue to make sure that any remaining cancer cells are destroyed, particularly if only part of the breast has been removed.

An additional problem can occur where a tiny numbers of cancer cells have escaped and being present elsewhere in the body (these may be too small to be detected by scans). To combat this possibility your doctor will usually recommend some additional drug treatment (called adjuvant therapy). Adjuvant therapy may consist of hormonal therapy or chemotherapy drugs or both.

If the cancer has spread to other parts of the body it is usually treated with drugs (hormonal therapy, chemotherapy or monoclonal antibody therapy). Whether hormonal therapies or chemotherapy are used will depend on a number of factors such as:
which part of the body that the cancer has spread to how much time has passed since the original operation whether or not the cancer cells have receptors for particular hormones or proteins on their surface

All the information on this and all other pages on the site is simply that-information. The pages on this website were not designed to give any specific advice, diagnosis or prognosis regarding your personal circumstances. If you feel that you may be suffering or have any of the symptoms described on any of these pages then you should see a qualified medical Practitioner as soon as possible.