Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List
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Symptoms of Cancer of the breast
Women with breast cancer can have many different symptoms. These include:
- a lump or lumps in the breast,
- change in the size, shape or skin of the breast,
- changes to the nipple,
- blood-stained discharge from the nipple, and
- pain in the breasts (this is quite rare).
However, most lumps, around 90% that develop in breasts are not due to cancer. Often it is a cyst (a fluid-filled lump), a fibroadenoma (a solid lump) and sometimes breasts are just generally lumpy (known as diffuse nodularity).
Even though most breast lumps are not cancer, finding one can be very frightening and you should get it checked out by your GP as soon as possible. Your GP may refer you to a specialist for more tests. A referral does not mean that it is cancer; it simply means that the GP wants another opinion.









