Breast Cancer Symptoms And Diagnosis

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women if the relatively less aggressive skin cancer is excluded from counting. Breast cancer accounts for about 32 percent of all cancer diagnosed in women.

Breast cancer is very uncommon in males, though in families carrying the breast cancer associated genes male members may be affected disproportionately compared to the general population. In the general population men are one hundred times less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Prior to the introduction of mammography screening, breast cancer was often diagnosed as a large lump in the breast because women were not paying attention to the development of breast tumours. The introduction of mammography significantly changed this. In wealthy nations, breast cancer is most commonly detected through mammography screening. Mammography screening has also brought a great sense of awareness to women and this has resulted in the earlier detection of breast cancer.

Most women now do self-examinations in between mammograms. Because of this increased awareness, women being diagnosed with locally advanced breast cancer are much more rare than in the past.

In some women, breast cancer may have spread to distant organs before mammography screening or symptoms showed the breast cancer. This can happen because early stage breast cancer does not usually cause any symptoms. If the cancer has spread to other organs these women may show symptoms related to these organs. For example, if the cancer has spread to the bone, the woman may develop bone pain or bone fracture.

Diagnosis of breast cancer involves a biopsy procedure. Most often an abnormality in the mammogram leads to a biopsy. Many other times, the woman, or doctor during a check-up, may have felt a lump in the breast.

Biopsy is the procedure by which a small part of the breast tissue is removed and examined under the microscope. A typical beast cancer would show classic features of breast cancer. Sometimes the abnormality may be a non-invasive breast cancer or so called carcinoma in situ.