Breast Cancer Symptoms

Because early detection of breast cancer is vital to a positive prognosis and effective treatment, it is essential that one know the most common symptoms of breast cancer. Learn these symptoms in a custom written research papers on the symptoms of breast cancer.
- One of the leading symptoms is a change in the way the breast or nipple feels.
- Individuals may feel a lump or a thickening of the tissue within the breast; this is the most common symptom that is detected in a monthly breast self-exam. This can appear within the main part of the breast itself, though it is more commonly found near the armpit area.
- Individuals can experience nipple tenderness as an early symptom of breast cancer.
- Some individuals also report a change to the texture of the skin of the breast, most notably an increase in the size of the pores on the breast.
Other symptoms deal with the appearance of the nipple or breast. Individuals with breast cancer report changes to the size or shape of the breast, dimpling in the skin anywhere on the breast, or swelling or shrinkage of the breast tissue, particularly on one side only. Some patients report an inverted nipple or scaly, swollen, or red skin somewhere on the breast, nipple, or areola. Finally, any discharge from the nipple when a woman is not breastfeeding can be a symptoms of breast cancer, and should be examined by a physician. It is important to note that these symptoms are not always indicative of cancer; any time these symptoms appear, either individually or in multiples, one should consult a physician for further screening.