early symptoms of breast cancer

Written by Lin Yang
Breast Surgery
Updated on September 05, 2024
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Breast cancer, in the majority of cases, manifests as a painless lump, often accidentally discovered by the patient without any adverse discomfort. During self-examinations or routine screenings, a few patients might detect them. These lumps are commonly found in the upper outer quadrant, typically appearing as a single lesion on one side, with no obvious abnormalities on the skin. Dimpling, an orange-peel-like texture, the appearance of satellite nodules in later stages, nipple retraction, bloody discharge, and eczema-like changes can be observed. There is also swelling of regional lymph nodes.

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Written by Fan Hong Qiao
Breast Health Department
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How to cure breast cancer?

In the treatment of breast cancer, early detection is very important. In the early to mid-stages of breast cancer, the cure rate is quite high, generally up to 99%. Therefore, if it is breast cancer, timely surgical treatment should be carried out. In the later stages, depending on the specific pathological conditions, it should be evaluated whether radiotherapy or chemotherapy is needed. Breast cancer patients, with active cooperation in treatment, have a great chance of being cured.

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Written by Zhang Chao Jie
Breast Surgery
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Breast cancer IIA is stage 2.

Breast cancer stage IIa is considered early stage. Breast cancer is classified into stages 0, I, IIa, IIb, III, and IV. Stage III is further divided into IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc. Strictly speaking, breast cancers at stage IIa and earlier are considered early-stage breast cancer, while stage III is considered locally advanced breast cancer, including IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc, and stage IV is considered advanced breast cancer. However, since most operable breast cancers, which include up to stage IIIa (stages 0, I, II, and including IIIa), generally have favorable treatment outcomes, many research institutions and medical organizations in Western countries define all stages up to IIIa as early-stage breast cancer. Therefore, breast cancer stage IIa is classified as early-stage cancer.

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Written by Fan Hong Qiao
Breast Health Department
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Breast Cancer Self-Examination Method

Breast self-examination helps to detect changes in the breasts in a timely manner, and to discover breast diseases promptly. For instance, breast lumps are often found by patients themselves during self-examination. However, finding a breast lump does not necessarily mean it is breast cancer, as many conditions can present as breast lumps, such as the most common one, fibrocystic breast changes. Besides breast self-examination, early detection of breast cancer also relies on regular physical check-ups. It is recommended that women of childbearing age should develop the habit of regular breast self-examinations and routine physical check-ups, and consult a doctor promptly if abnormalities are found.

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Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
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Late-stage symptoms of breast cancer

The first symptom of advanced breast cancer is a lump in the breast, which may be larger than before, or there may be multiple lumps that are fixed to the surrounding tissues and have limited mobility. The second symptom is nipple discharge, which could be watery, serous, or milky. The third possible sign is changes in the skin, such as dimpling or an orange-peel texture. The fourth point includes the retraction of the nipple, abnormalities in the areola, and thickening and reddening of the nipple skin. The fifth point can involve pain in the breast. In advanced stages, the cancer may directly invade the nerves. Sixthly, advanced breast cancer may lead to metastases; for example, brain metastases might cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness. If there are bone metastases, especially multiple bone metastases, symptoms could include pain in the lower back and pain along the sciatic nerve, among others.

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Written by Lin Yang
Breast Surgery
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Types of breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer surgery types are generally still dominated by modified radical mastectomy. Modified radical mastectomy can be divided into two types; one preserves both the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles, and the other removes the pectoralis minor muscle but preserves the pectoralis major muscle. Another option is breast-conserving surgery, which is feasible for tumors smaller than three centimeters and at least two centimeters away from the nipple. Nowadays, sentinel lymph node biopsy has become popular. If it proves that the sentinel lymph node has no metastasis, a single mastectomy can be performed.