Wednesday, 28 October 2009

• Warning Signs of Breast Cancer

  

  We all know about looking for lumps and performing self breast examines on a regular basis, but are there other signs we should be on the look out for?  Many women shrug off abnormalities that they find not realizing that they could be cancerous.  Here is a list of things that we should all be checking for:

  Nipple discharge:
  It's normal to have discharge while breast feeding or shortly after a woman has discontinued breast feeding. It is also normal to have discharge from both nipples when aroused.  This discharge may be caused by birth control pills, blood pressure pills, smoking marijuana, etc.  Another type of nipple discharge is galactorrhea, a spontaneous, persistent production of milk from both breasts when the woman isn't breastfeeding. In certain instances your doctor may want to perform a few hormone tests. The kind of nipple discharge that should send up a red flag comes from one duct on one breast and is spontaneous (not caused by arousal of the nipple).  This is usually caused by one or several papillomas (nonmalignant, pimple-like growths in the lining of a breast duct) or what is known as duct ectasia (inflammation of the lining of the milk gland). On rare occasions, the discharge is the sign of cancer - either ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or an invasive cancer. Surgery is usually required to make a diagnosis.  The surgeon identifies the involved duct and removes it through an incision in the skin. A pathologist then examines the tissue for cancer cells.  Remember, a cancer cell is a cell with abnormal growth.

  Inverted nipples:
  Many women live their entire lives with one or both nipples inverted, but for women who normally have erect nipples and suddenly find themselves with an inverted nipple, this could be a sign of cancer and should be reported to a doctor immediately. The doctor will generally examine the breast before referring women to a mammorgram.

  Sore that won't heal:
  There is a rare form of cancer known as Paget's disease of the breast. This form of cancer may first appear as an itchy sore that won't heal.  It becomes pussy and continues to worsen. Though, Paget's disease resembles eczema you should know that eczema generally affects only the areola and not the nipple, whereas, Paget's disease affects the nipple and not the areola.

  What are other warning signs of breast cancer to look for? Do you have a story on how breast cancer has affected your life?

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