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Breast Cancer - Symptoms
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When To Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Home Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
The first sign of breast cancer is often a painless lump. But early breast cancer is often found on a mammogram before a lump can be felt.
Other symptoms of breast cancer may not appear until the cancer is more advanced. These include:
- A thickening in the breast or armpit.
- A change in the size or shape of the breast.
- Changes in the skin of the breast, such as a dimple or skin that looks like an orange peel.
- A change in the nipple, such as scaling of the skin or a nipple that turns in.
- A green or bloody fluid that comes from the nipple.
- A change in the color or feel of the skin around the nipple (areola).
About 1% of breast cancer occurs in men. Although most men diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 65, the disease can appear in younger men. For this reason, any breast lump in an adult male is considered abnormal.
Inflammatory breast cancer
is a specific type of
breast cancer that involves the skin of the breast. It occurs when breast
cancer cells form "nests" and block the lymphatic drainage from the skin of the
breast. Symptoms include redness, tenderness, and warmth. Thickening of the
skin of the breast (an orange-peel appearance), rapid breast enlargement, and
ridging of the skin of the breast may also be present. Some women may also
develop a lump in the breast. For more information, see the topic
Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: October 22, 2009 |
| Medical Review: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Douglas A. Stewart, MD - Medical Oncology | |
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