Important Information About Breast Cancer:
Note #1) The breasts of breast cancer patients can get very hard. It is important, especially if there is some symptom of the breast(s) getting hard, that the cancer patient massage her breasts to keep them from getting hard.
Note #2) EVERY breast cancer patient needs to become an expert on hormones, iodine and cancer. Mike Vrentas, who supports the Cellect-Budwig protocol for home use, and should support all breast cancer patients who treat their cancer at home, discusses these topics in his lectures.
Symptoms of Breast Cancer
To begin with, breast cancer may not cause any symptoms. A lump may be too small for you to feel or to cause any unusual changes you can notice on your own. Often, an abnormal area turns up on a screening mammogram (x-ray of the breast), which leads to further testing. In some cases, however, the first sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass in the breast that you or your doctor can feel. A lump that is painless, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely to be cancer. But sometimes cancers can be tender, soft, and rounded. So it's important to have anything unusual checked by your doctor. According to the American Cancer Society, any of the following unusual changes in the breast can be a symptom of breast cancer:
- Swelling of all or part of the breast.
- Pain in Breast.
- Skin irritation or dimpling.
- Nipple pain or the nipple turning inward.
- Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin.
- A nipple discharge other than breast milk.
- A lump in the underarm area.
- A change in shape or position of the nipple.
These changes also can be signs of less severe circumstances that are not cancerous, such as an infection or a cyst. It’s vital to get any breast changes checked out without delay by a doctor.
Diagnosing breast cancer
Women usually diagnosed with breast cancer after a schedule breast cancer screening, or after detecting certain signs and symptoms and considering their doctor about them.
In case a woman perceives any of the breast cancer signs and symptoms described above, she should speak to her doctor straight away. The doctor, often a primary care physician initially, will carry out a physical exam, and then refer the patient to a specialist if he/she thinks further consideration is required.
Below are examples of diagnostic tests and procedures for breast cancer:
Breast Exam - Medical doctor will check both the patient's breasts, looking out for lumps and other possible abnormalities, such as upturned nipples, nipple discharge, or adjust in breast shape.
X-Ray (mammogram) - Usually used for breast cancer screening. If anything extraordinary is found, the doctor may order a diagnostic mammogram.
Breast cancer screening program has become a controversial subject over the last few years. Experts, professional bodies, and patient groups cannot currently agree on when mammography screening should start and how often it should occur. Several say routine screening should start when the woman is 40 years old, others insist on 50 as the best age, and a few believe that only high-risk groups should have routine screening.
Breast Ultrasound - This kind of scan may assist doctors to decide whether a lump or abnormality is a solid mass or a fluid-filled cyst.
Biopsy - A sample of tissue from a visible abnormality, such as a lump, is surgically detached and sent to the lab for examination. Cells that could be found cancerous, the lab will also determine what type of breast cancer it is, and the grade of cancer.
Breast MRI Scan - This sort of scan facilitates doctor to determine the amount of the cancer.
