Breast Cancer 10/31/14

Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Common symptoms of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. A hard mass with irregular edges likely to be cancerous, but breast cancers can be tender, soft, or rounded and painful. Its important to have any new breast mass or lump or breast change checked by a health care professional experienced in diagnosing breast diseases.

Symptoms of breast cancer include:

• Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no distinct lump is felt)
• Skin irritation or dimpling
• Breast or nipple pain
• Nipple retraction (turning inward)
• Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
• Nipple discharge (other than breast milk)

Treatments

The main types of treatment for breast cancer are:

• Surgery
• Radiation Therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Hormone Therapy
• Targeted Therapy
• Bone-Directed Therapy

The treatments are classified into broad groups, based on how they work and when they are used.

Prognosis

Stage	5-year Relative Survival Rate
0		100%
I		100%
II		93%
III		72%
IV		22%

References to Breast Cancer

1. National Cancer Institute (2013). SEER stat fact sheets: Breast. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2010. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute. Available online: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html.
2. National Cancer Institute (2012). Breast cancer risk in American women. National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet. Available online: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/probability-breast-cancer.
3. Dizon DS, et al. (2009). Breast cancer. In RR Barakat et al., eds., Principles and Practice of Gynecologic Oncology, 5th ed., pp. 897–945. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.