"A breast lump will feel like a distinct mass that's noticeably more solid than the rest of your breast tissue. Lumps can range in size — from the size of a pea to larger than a golf ball — and may or may not be movable," says Dr. Joshi.
Some breast cancers feel like distinct lumps or bumps in the tissue. Others feel like a “shelf” just beneath the skin. Some can be easily moved around under the surface.
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.
About 99% of breast cancers will not cause any pain. Even if they're detected as a lump, bump or mass in the breast, they're usually painless. Breast cysts, on the other hand, if they develop quickly, often compress the tissue around them and can cause pain.
Most breast cancers develop in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, closest to the armpit. This is because this area has a lot of glandular tissue.
The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass (although most breast lumps are not cancer). A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancer, but breast cancers can be also soft, round, tender, or even painful.
“About 15% of patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer feel pain from it, but that is a known breast cancer, and when it comes to a point where it becomes painful, it will be obvious where the pain originates. You will feel a tumor that comes up to the surface. It's not subtle if it gets to that point.”
Breast pain is usually present to some degree with Inflammatory Breast Cancer which has other distinct symptoms as well. Rarely, a breast tumor may cause pain, but generally cancerous tumors are not reported as painful.
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. The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and how far it has spread. It helps your doctor decide the best treatment for you.
A mammogram can often find or detect breast cancer early, when it's small and even before a lump can be felt. This is when it's likely to be easiest to treat. What are the main uses of mammograms? A screening mammogram is used to look for signs of breast cancer in women who don't have any breast symptoms or problems.
Make an appointment to have a breast lump checked, especially if: The lump is new and feels firm or fixed. The lump doesn't go away after 4 to 6 weeks. Or it has changed in size or in how it feels.
Typically, a lump has to be about one centimeter (about the size of a large lima bean) before a person can feel it; however, it depends on where the lump arises in the breast, how big the breast is, and how deep the lesion is.
Cancers tend to feel much harder than benign cysts and fibroadenomas. Both benign and malignant masses can be rounded and mobile. Only when cancers are quite advanced are they fixed to skin or the underlying chest wall, and not moveable.
Bumps that are cancerous are typically large, hard, painless to the touch and appear spontaneously. The mass will grow in size steadily over the weeks and months. Cancerous lumps that can be felt from the outside of your body can appear in the breast, testicle, or neck, but also in the arms and legs.
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.
Potential reasons behind this statistic include larger left breast size, more frequent self-screening of left breast, and right-side breastfeeding preferences.
Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include: A breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue. Change in the size, shape or appearance of a breast. Changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling.
Breast cancer symptoms at stage 1 may include: Nipple discharge. Dimpling of the skin. Swelling or redness of the breast.
Is breast cancer more common in the left or right breast? Breast cancer occurs more frequently in the left breast than the right. The left breast is 5%-10% more likely to develop cancer than the right breast.
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.
You can have breast cancer without knowing it for several years, depending on how quickly it starts, grows, and spreads. Annually, almost 288,000 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in the United States. More than half of these cancers are found before they spread beyond the breast.
Although breast cancer is often painless, it is important not to ignore any signs or symptoms that could be due to breast cancer. Some people may describe the pain as a burning and tender sensation.