Symptoms of Breast Cancer

While symptoms of breast cancer can be dramatic in some cases, many women present with no or only subtle breast cancer symptoms. In early tumors there can be no symptoms as the small lump is not easily felt and does not cause pain or other overt symptoms. This is why screening for cancer, with tests such as a mammogram, in older women is commonly recommended to catch cancer at these early stages.

However, many women do present with symptoms they notice which brings the cancer to their attention. Below we present many of the most common symptoms of breast cancer as well as some rare warning signs that can be rarely associated with breast cancer.

Some Common Symptoms of Breast Cancer

No Symptoms: As mentioned above, very early in the course of disease, small breast cancers may not be very obvious. The small lump may be difficult to notice, particularly in dense or fibrocystic breasts. Many of these tumors will eventually become symptomatic if left to grow without treatment. Some of these early cancers can be detected by screening mammograms.

Breast Lump: A new, painless lump in the breast is one of the most common breast cancer symptoms. The lump typically feels different from the surrounding breast tissue. A lump may be difficult to detect in very dense or fibrocystic breasts and in some of the women they may mistake breast cysts or irregularities as a tumor.

Bloody Discharge: Most cancers cause tissue damage to the surrounding tissues. This can often cause bleeding. Because most breast cancers originate from the ductal tissue in the breast, bleeding can present as a bloody discharge from the nipple.

Change in Breast Size or Shape on One Side: As a tumor grows in the breast, it can cause a change in the size or shape of the breast. While breasts are not completely symmetric normally, most women are aware of the normal differences in their breasts. Noticing a new difference in size or shape can be a sign of an underlying tumor growing in the breast.

Skin Changes on the Breast: As a cancer grows in the breast, it can involve the deeper tissues of the skin overlying the breast or other fibrous tissue in the breast which is connected to the skin. This can lead to a noticable change in the skin, most commonly a dimpling of one part of the breast.

More rarely, the skin of the breast can become red, tight and pitted, not unlike the appearance of the skin of an orange. This rare symptom, known as peau d'orange ("orange skin") is often associated with a rare form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer.

Nipple Inversion: Inverted nipples can be normal. But a change from a normal, uninverted nipple to an inverted nipple can be a sign of a breast cancer growing under the nipple.

Other Nipple Changes: Another rare type of breast cancer is Paget's disease of the breast. In this form of cancer, the tumor, which originates in the ducts of the breast, quickly spreads down the ducts to the nipple and out onto the darkened skin surrounding the nipple, the areola. This can present as a change in the appearance of the nipple including peeling and/or flaking of the skin.