Breast cancer has to divide 30 times before it can be felt. Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand. With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you can feel a cancerous lump, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years.
"About 10% to 20% of lumps are cancer. The rest are benign." A doctor can determine the difference through a physical exam and a biopsy if necessary. "A physical exam can hint whether the lump is bad (malignant) or harmless (benign)," says Dr.
Stage 1 breast cancer means that the cancer is small and only in the breast tissue or it might be found in lymph nodes close to the breast. It is an early stage breast cancer.
Inflammatory breast cancer symptoms can appear quite suddenly. Inflammatory breast cancer is often confused with an infection of the breast (mastitis).
Both women and men can develop benign (noncancerous) breast lumps. This condition is known as benign breast disease. While these breast changes aren't cancerous or life-threatening, they may increase your risk of developing breast cancer later on.
Studies show that even though breast cancer happens more often now than it did in the past, it doesn't grow any faster than it did decades ago. On average, breast cancers double in size every 180 days, or about every 6 months.
Symptoms of stage 1 breast cancer include:
Skin irritation or dimpling. Swelling of all or part of the breast. Redness, scaling, flaking, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin. A change in the size or the shape of the breast.
A painless lump in the breast is usually the first sign of breast cancer, though you may not feel it yourself. Instead, many lumps are detected by a routine screening mammogram.
Early stage breast cancer – The tumour is smaller than 5 cm and the cancer has not spread to more than 3 lymph nodes. It includes stages 1A, 1B and 2A. Locally advanced breast cancer – The tumour is larger than 5 cm. The cancer may have spread to the skin, the muscles of the chest wall or more than 3 lymph nodes.
Breast cancer symptoms at stage 1 may include: Nipple discharge. Dimpling of the skin. Swelling or redness of the breast.
ANSWER: Breast cancer is not always accompanied by a lump. Many women diagnosed with breast cancer never have any signs or symptoms, and their cancer is found on a screening test, such as a mammogram.
Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is not usually offered for stage 1 breast tumours. It may be offered after surgery (called adjuvant therapy) for these tumours if there is a high risk that the cancer will come back (recur).
Most lumps are harmless but it's important to see a GP if you're worried or the lump is still there after 2 weeks.
Fibroadenoma. Fibroadenomas are the most common benign tumor in the breast. Most often, they occur in people between ages 15 and 35.
Diagnostic mammogram: A procedure used to check for breast cancer after a lump or other sign or symptom of the disease has been found. More x-ray pictures of the breast are taken from different angles to allow an area of the breast to be examined more closely.
Most breast cancers are found in women who are 50 years old or older. Some women will get breast cancer even without any other risk factors that they know of.
According to the American Cancer Society , the 5-year relative survival rate for localized breast cancer, cancer that has not spread outside the breast, is 99 percent. For those whose cancer has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes, the survival rate is 86 percent.
Signs that breast cancer may have spread to the brain
Feeling sick (nausea) and being sick (vomiting) especially when waking in the morning. Weakness or feeling numb down one side of the body. Dizziness, unsteadiness or loss of balance and co-ordination.
Patients with stage 2 breast cancer may not experience any symptoms, and the cancer may be discovered during a routine mammogram. Possible breast cancer symptoms in stage 2 include: A lump in the breast or armpit. Nipple discharge.
It's important to note that the five-year survival rate for a patient diagnosed at stage 0 is 99 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer that's found early, when it's small and hasn't spread, is often easier to treat—and the best way to detect it early is through routine screenings.
About half of cancerous breast lumps appear in the upper, outer quadrant of the breast, extending into the armpit. About 18 percent of breast cancer tumors show up in the nipple area. Around 11 percent are found in the lower quadrant, and 6 percent are located in the lower, inner quadrant.
The 5-year relative survival rate for women in the United States with non-metastatic invasive breast cancer is 91%. The 10-year relative survival rate for women with non-metastatic invasive breast cancer is 85%. The survival rates for breast cancer vary based on several factors.