What are the symptoms of breast cancer

What are the symptoms of breast cancer? In recent years, the incidence of breast cancer has been increasing. Whenever a lump is found in the breast, many female friends panic and feel helpless, thinking that their fate has come. What exactly is breast cancer? What are the symptoms? Let's take a look!

Breast cancer may be asymptomatic in the early stages, but as the disease progresses, local and systemic symptoms may appear.

(1) Lump: It is the first symptom of breast cancer. According to foreign reports, most lumps are located in the upper outer quadrant, followed by the upper inner quadrant and the nipple areola area, and less in the lower part. The lumps vary in size, with 2 to 3 cm being the most common. They are mostly single, but occasionally multiple. The lumps are mostly round or oval, with unclear boundaries, generally hard nodules, and poor mobility.

(2) Pain: Most breast cancer patients do not experience pain symptoms. Since pain rarely occurs, breast cancer is not easily detected at an early stage. Pain often manifests as breast tingling, distending pain, or dull pain. If there is breast cystic hyperplasia around the cancer, periodic pain may also occur.

(3) Breast skin changes: Breast tissue is surrounded by the superficial fascia located under the skin, and the deep and superficial fascia are connected by Cooper's ligaments. Since the superficial fascia is connected to the skin, when breast cancer invades the Cooper's ligaments between the breasts and shortens them, it will pull the skin, causing the local skin to sag, like a dimple, which is called the "dimple sign." In addition, direct adhesion of the tumor to the skin may also cause this situation. The dimple sign can appear at an early stage of breast cancer and is more obvious when the affected arm moves up and down.

① Redness and swelling: Rapidly growing, large tumors may cause superficial veins on the skin to become dilated and local skin temperature to rise. If the tumor is close to the skin surface, the skin may become red. If cancer cells block the subcutaneous lymphatic vessels, skin edema may occur, resulting in "orange peel-like changes".

The most typical case of breast cancer is inflammatory breast cancer, with the skin color being light red or dark red, and quickly spreading from a limited area to most of the breast, or even the entire breast. When palpated, the entire breast becomes thicker and harder, the skin temperature increases, and it becomes swollen and rough, with obvious orange peel-like changes.

② Skin ulceration: When the tumor develops to the late stage, the mass grows and may cause the skin to bulge. If the blood supply is insufficient, the skin may become red and thin, and then ulcerated. The patient is often accompanied by pain, sometimes severe and unbearable. Because there is a large amount of necrotic tissue and bloody secretions oozing out of the wound surface, the patient often becomes emaciated and anemic.

③ Skin nodules: When nodules are distributed in the skin around the lesion, they are called satellite nodules. They are caused by direct infiltration of cancer cells into the skin along lymphatic vessels, mammary ducts or subcutaneous fascial ligaments. Satellite nodules can be single or multiple, and the latter are mostly dispersed.

④ Armor cancer: Several skin nodules fuse into a piece, covering the entire affected chest wall, and can extend to the armpit to the back, and even beyond the midline of the sternum to the opposite chest wall. The thick and hard skin that forms a plate resembles the armor worn by ancient soldiers, so it is called armor cancer.

(4) Changes in breast contour: When the tumor is large, the breast may bulge locally and enlarge. When the tumor involves the skin or pectoral muscles, the breast may become hard and shrink. When the patient sits upright, the affected breast may rise.

(5) Changes in the nipple and areola:

① Nipple retraction and change in direction: The nipple becomes flat, retracted, sunken, and changes direction until it is completely retracted under the areola and the nipple cannot be seen. Nipple retraction caused by breast cancer is different from congenital nipple retraction. The latter can often be pulled out by hand, while nipple retraction caused by breast cancer cannot be pulled out, and a lump can be felt under or around the sunken nipple.

② Eczema-like changes of the nipple: Initially, the nipple is itchy, the nipple epithelium becomes thicker, desquamated, and exudates, and erosion gradually occurs. The erosion is repeatedly scabbed and peeled off. Red granulation tissue appears after the areola skin is peeled off. The nipple may slowly flatten and finally disappear.

(6) Nipple discharge: Nipple discharge accompanied by a lump is more likely to be breast cancer. The discharge can be colorless, milky white, light yellow, brown, or bloody; it can be watery, bloody, serous, or purulent; the amount of discharge can be more or less, and the intervals between discharges are also inconsistent.

Editor’s message: If you find that you have any of the above symptoms, please seek medical attention promptly and actively cooperate with the doctor’s treatment to avoid worsening of the disease and strive to get out of suffering as soon as possible.