Breast Cancer Symptoms In Females

Breast cancer symptoms consist of a change in how the breast and/or nipple feel and look. Another important symptom of breast cancer is moisture from a nipple. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among females in Western countries. Breast cancer concerns 18% of all forms of cancer among females. The risk that a woman develops breast cancer in her life is about 1 to 8. It is the second major cause of cancer due to cancer after lung cancer. Often, the early symptoms of breast cancer is a nod in the breast. Many bumps in the chest proved to be benign.

It's important that you know your breasts well so that you can notice a change that will help you discover early-stage symptoms. It is also good to know if there is an increased risk. Periodic self-examination (each month on a fixed day) is not necessarily required. In order to recognize what suspicious changes are, it's important that you know how your breasts feel normal. For example, your one breast may always be slightly bigger than the other. It is common for females to feel bumpy beneath your skin. That is caused by the glandular tissue in the breast. Treatment of breast cancer often consists of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal treatment or immunotherapy. There are a number of measures that you can take to reduce the risk of breast cancer. For example, by not drinking alcohol, moving more and keeping on a healthy weight.

Symptoms of breast cancer

Feeling your breasts different from what you are used to and seeing or feeling one of the following symptoms, it is wise to consult your doctor immediately:

• The first symptom of breast cancer is for many women to experience a lump or thickening in the chest. Roughly 9 out of 10 nodules in the breasts (90%) are benign.
• A change in the size or shape of a chest.
• Chills or dents in the skin of the breast.
• A change in the shape of the nipple or a retracted nipple recently.
• Separation from the nipple: brown, bloody, aqueous, greenish or milky moisture.
• A skin rash on the nipple or the area around it with redness and (eczema) scaliness.
• Pale red skin rash on the chest. This chest can feel warm.
• A thickening of the skin.
• Pain in the chest.

These phenomena do not necessarily indicate cancer. Changes in or on the chest can also indicate a benign condition. In one of the mentioned changes, it is wise to visit the GP for a medical examination. Only an investigation can show whether the change is good or malicious.

Risk factors for breast cancer

There is quite a lot known about risk factors for breast cancer, but it is certainly not true that if a risk factor applies to a woman, she also gets breast cancer. Conversely, it is often difficult to determine what caused a person to get breast cancer. Usually, different risk factors contribute to an increased risk.

It is known that:

• Breast cancer is especially common in women aged 50 and over in Western countries. 
• About 5 to 10% of all women with breast cancer have had the disease through a hereditary plant. 
• Female sex hormones play an important role in the development of breast cancer. It is mainly about estrogen, but also progesterone. The longer the breasts are exposed to these hormones, the greater the risk of breast cancer. There is a (slightly) increased risk of breast cancer for women who: 
• Early menstrual menstrual periods 
• Have little or no children 
• No or less breastfeeding 
• Overweight during and after menopause
• Daily alcohol use (more than 1 glass per day)
• Hormonal Substitution Therapy (HST)
• Oral contraceptives
• Big breasts
• Smoking
• Low vitamin D levels
• Exposure to light in the nightly hours
• Exposure to DES
• Unhealthy eating and drinking
• Exposure to chemicals in cosmetics

Types of breast cancer

Breast cancer has two main forms: ductal and lobular carcinoma. In addition, there are some rare forms of breast cancer.

Invasive ductal carcinoma
Most types of breast cancer belong to this type, which starts in the milking courses. In roughly 85 percent of cases, it is a ductal form of breast cancer. The swings can grow up and feel like a hard bump. Invasive means that cancer can spread further.

Invasive lobular carcinoma
A lobular carcinoma begins in the lobe of the breast that produces milk, the milking glands. The cancer is spreading through the breast. The tumor is often only felt like an overall swelling of the breast and not a little bit of a nod.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
A precursor of breast cancer, with the cells already in the form of cancerous cells but not yet able to grow into the surrounding tissue (invasive) and possibly sowing (metastasis). Hence the additive 'in situ', which means that the cancer is limited to the place of origin.

Research and diagnosis in breast cancer

Changes in or on the chest may indicate a benign disease or cancer. Only medical research can show whether the change is good or malicious. Therefore, it is wise to go to your GP when changes are made.

Your GP will investigate you physically. In addition, he carefully examines and brushes your breasts. He also investigates whether there are raised lymph nodes in your armpits or throat. If necessary, he advises you further research. Or he will immediately refer you to a surgeon or a mammapoli.

Mammapoli

A large number of hospitals has a mammapoli. Mom means breast. A mammal clinic is an outpatient clinic specifically for patients with suspected breast cancer. At a mammapoli a team of:

• Doctors
• Maternity nurses
• Nurse practitioners mammal care

The physician team often consists of a surgeon, plastic surgeon, radiologist, pathologist, radiotherapist oncologist, internist oncologist and nuclear physician.
On a mammapoli, you will receive a part of the studies in 1 day. Often the result of that research is known the same day.
These can be the following studies:

• Another physical examination
• Mammography
• Ultrasound of the breast
• MRI of the breast
• Puncture
• Biopsy

Breast cancer treatment

The most commonly used treatments for breast cancer are as follows:

• Surgery: surgery can be performed or breast stimulation
• Radiation: the treatment of cancer with radiation (radiotherapy);
• Chemotherapy: treatment with cytostatics, drugs that kill cells or inhibit cell division;
• Hormonal therapy: in hormone-sensitive tumors, drugs that reduce the production of certain hormones or reduce their influence may be useful
• Targeted Therapy: Treatment with drugs that spread through your blood through your body and kill those cancer cells or inhibit cell division of cancer cells;
• Breast prosthesis and reconstruction: a breast structure following an amputation.

Often it is a combination of the mentioned treatments. The attending doctor explains which treatment best suits your situation.

Survival of breast cancer

One year after diagnosis of breast cancer, almost all patients are still alive if they have stage I breast cancer. Even after 3 years, almost 100% of these patients are still alive. For stage IV, more than 70% of patients after 1 year are still alive and more than 40% after 3 years. Since 1999, the survival of breast cancer has improved slightly.

*Image source : Wikimedia Commons

References :

1. National Cancer Institute
2. Mayo Clinic
3. American Cancer Society