Breast cancer symptoms

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Many women these days present to the surgical team with no symptoms at all having been successfully picked up through the national breast cancer screening service.  Some women go to the doctor with breast cancers symptoms which are not directly related to the cancer but subsequent investigations pick up a silent cancer. Unfortunately, many women still present with symptoms of disease in the breast, local area or distant disease:

Local breast cancer symptoms:

• A lump or swelling.
• An area of thickening or dimpling.
• An inverted nipple.
• A change in the size or shape.
• Less common signs include swelling and redness of the skin or a bloodstained discharge from the nipple.
• A rash (like eczema) affecting the nipple.

Indicators of local spread:

• A swelling, lump in the armpit
• Pain in the armpit or down the arm

• Unexplained weight loss or pain.
• Breathlessness, weakness and malaise, nausea and vomiting, confusion.