Breast Cancer Symptoms
Next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women and the disease women fear most. As scary as it is, try to remember that if you find breast cancer early, it can often be treated successfully. Many women have overcome breast cancer and are living life to its fullest! Symptoms
of Breast Cancer...the symptoms and signs to look for
Recognizing the symptoms of breast cancer may help save your life. When the disease is discovered early, you have more treatment options and a better chance for long-term recovery.
Most breast lumps aren't cancerous. Yet the most common sign of breast cancer for both
women and men is a lump or thickening in the breast. Often, the lump is painless. Other symptoms of breast cancer include:
- Any flattening or indentation of the skin over your breast
- Redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orange
- A spontaneous clear or bloody discharge from your nipple
- A change in the size or contours of your breast
- Nipple pain or retraction (turning inward)
- Skin irritation or dimpling
Most women who are newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer have a choice: breast-conserving surgery (such as lumpectomy) or a mastectomy (also called a modified radical mastectomy).
The decision is not between your breast and your life. Women with early-stage breast cancer who undergo breast-conserving surgery with radiation therapy live just as long as those who undergo mastectomy. Life expectancy is the same regardless of which choice a woman makes.
When the patient is told that the survival rate for lumpectomy with radiation is the same as for mastectomy, some women may be surprised or skeptical. If
you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, your cancer treatment involves
several important decisions. A second opinion may help you feel more confident
of making the decisions that are best for you. Asking for a second opinion is
always appropriate, and well-qualified physicians are not offended by it. And,
feel free to ask your doctor for copies of your medical records. Recommended
Book - Dr.
Susan Love's Breast Book Breast
Cancer Symptoms to B Home
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