Breast Cancer Symptom

There is no right way for a person to deal with a diagnosis of cancer. In this section, we simply hope to share options and coping skills with you that have worked for others.

As you go through the process of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care, you’ll likely experience side effects from the treatment. It’s different for everyone. Some drugs cause nausea or hair loss. You may feel physical symptoms, such as pain or fatigue. Your feelings and emotional coping skills may be challenged by the trauma of facing a serious, sometimes life threatening illness. If you are a spiritual person, you may find your faith tested.

These many kinds of distress are common among people who are going through what you are going through. Because they are common, your healthcare team can offer you choices for managing them in ways that suit your personality and lifestyle. Ask for advice on ways to cope with side effects.

Other sections of this Guide address the type of help available to you from support groups, complementary therapy, and your spiritual advisors. This section reviews some ways to find relief from some of the physical symptoms you may experience.

Whenever a symptom comes up that concerns you, no matter how insignificant that symptom might seem, talk with your doctor or nurse about it. Don’t wait until the symptom feels almost unbearable. The sooner you let someone know what is bothering you, the sooner you will be offered ideas about ways of managing it.

Many breast cancers are detected by mammography before any symptoms are noticed.

Other signs include breast lumps (although most of these are benign), change in size or shape of the breast, dimpling of breast skin, nipple inversion, change in the nipple, swelling or lump in the armpit and very rarely a blood-stained discharge from the nipple or rash around the nipple.

A recent meta-analysis concluded that breast self examination is not an effective method of reducing breast cancer mortality. The NHS recommends that all women are 'breast aware': know what is normal for them and what signs of disease to look for , and that women aged 50 or over attend for breast screening.

Treatment guidelines have been published to improve and standardise the treatment of breast cancer in the UK. 3-7

Surgery and radiotherapy are used to control local disease, and systemic treatments (chemotherapy and /or hormonal therapy) to combat frank or occult metastatic disease.

Systemic treatments may also be administered up front as a primary treatment to reduce the size of the tumour prior to surgery. Nearly all patients, whatever the stage of their disease, have some form of surgery. Other tests are carried out to assess the extent of the disease.