4 breast cancer signs you shouldn’t ignore
Early detection leads to early diagnosis, which is crucial for breast cancer and other cancers.
“We want to find cancers when they’re as small as possible, so we’re able to treat them with less aggressive means,” said Lara Lyn Bryan-Rest, MD, a Cape Cod Healthcare radiologist who specializes in breast imaging. “That potentially means less-extensive surgery is needed, as well as the ability to have more personalized treatment decisions about whether or not radiation or other adjuvant forms of therapy are needed. You have a much better chance of not needing a lot of additional treatment the smaller and earlier a breast cancer is detected.”
During the months between mammograms, which she described as “one of our greatest tools in finding breast cancer and finding it early,” self-checks are important.
“It is important for women to know what their breasts feel like,” she said. I’ve heard a lot of women say, ‘I get nervous examining my breast because I don’t know what I'm feeling.’ But I’ve had a decent number of women be the first ones to find their breast cancer because they know what their breasts feel like and they’re the first ones to notice a change. If you know where your normal lumps and bumps are, you may be able to detect changes more quickly.”
In addition to checking for new lumps, here are four other changes that could be an early warning of breast cancer.
A rash or dimpling of the breast skin
“When doing a breast exam, it's not just feeling for lumps, but also looking for any skin changes, where the appearance of the skin looks different or there’s a change in texture,” said Dr. Bryan-Rest. “Stand in front of a mirror and raise your hands over your head. You’ll see if there’s an area where the skin pulls in or puckers.”
Swelling of the breast
“Swelling of the breast is a less common change, but it could be a sign of inflammatory breast cancer, one of the more aggressive forms of breast cancer,” she said. “That’s definitely one that we’d want to evaluate carefully.”
Nipple changes
“If a woman's nipple has always pointed outward and all of a sudden she notices that it retracts or inverts and doesn’t come back out, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s something going on, but she should have that evaluated,” she said. “Along with that, if there are any skin changes on the nipple or if the nipple starts to look different, then it should be looked at.”
Nipple discharge
“New nipple discharge, especially if it is only from one breast and happens spontaneously, should be evaluated. If a woman looks inside her bra and notices leakage from her nipple or crusting on the nipple, which could be a sign of discharge where the fluid has dried, that should also be evaluated.”
Next Steps
If you’re concerned about a change in your breasts, the first thing you should do is reach out to your primary care doctor or gynecologist to have a thorough exam, said Dr. Bryan-Rest. “The next step from there would be to come in for a mammogram and possible ultrasound at the Cuda Women’s Health Center in Hyannis or the Seifer Women’s Health and Imaging Center in Falmouth. We can see what the breast tissue looks like and determine whether there is anything that we need to evaluate further.
“If you are destined to develop breast cancer, my job is to find it as early as possible. We can then work with our interdisciplinary team to find a tailored treatment approach that can hopefully minimize side effects and can get you back to your normal good health and activities as quickly as possible.”
