Breast cancer in women - NHS

Breast cancer can have several symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue. Most breast lumps are not ... Skiptomaincontent Home HealthAtoZ Backto HealthAtoZ Overview - Breastcancerinwomen Contents Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Livingwith Prevention BreastcanceristhemostcommontypeofcancerintheUK.Mostwomen diagnosedwithbreastcancer areovertheageof50,butyoungerwomencanalso getbreastcancer.About 1in8 womenarediagnosedwith breastcancerduringtheirlifetime.There'sagoodchanceofrecoveryifit'sdetectedatanearlystage.Forthisreason,it'svitalthatwomenchecktheirbreastsregularlyforanychangesandalwayshaveanychangesexaminedbyaGP.Inrarecases,mencanalsobediagnosedwithbreastcancer.Findoutmoreaboutbreastcancer inmen. Information: CoronavirusadviceGetadviceaboutcoronavirusandcancer:Macmillan:CoronavirusguidanceforpeoplewithcancerCancerResearchUK:Coronavirusandcancer Symptomsofbreastcancer Breastcancercanhaveseveralsymptoms,butthefirstnoticeablesymptomisusuallyalumporareaofthickenedbreasttissue.Mostbreastlumpsarenotcancerous,butit'salwaysbesttohavethemcheckedbyadoctor.YoushouldalsoseeaGPifyounoticeanyofthesesymptoms:achangeinthesizeorshapeofoneorbothbreastsdischargefromeitherofyournipples,whichmaybestreakedwithbloodalumporswellingineitherofyourarmpitsdimplingontheskinofyourbreastsarashonoraroundyournippleachangeintheappearanceofyournipple,suchasbecomingsunkenintoyourbreastBreastpainisnotusuallyasymptomofbreastcancer.Findoutmoreaboutthesymptomsofbreastcancer. Causesofbreastcancer Theexactcausesofbreastcancerarenotfullyunderstood.However,therearecertainfactorsknowntoincreasetherisk ofbreastcancer.Theseinclude:age –theriskincreasesasyougetolderafamilyhistoryofbreastcancerapreviousdiagnosisof breastcancerapreviousnon-cancerous(benign)breastlumpbeingtall,overweightorobesedrinkingalcoholFindoutmoreaboutthecausesofbreastcancer. Diagnosingbreastcancer Afterexaminingyourbreasts,aGPmayreferyoutoaspecialistbreastcancerclinicforfurthertests. Thismightincludebreastscreening(mammography) ortakingasmallsampleofbreasttissuetobeexaminedunderamicroscope(abiopsy).Findoutmoreabout howbreastcancerisdiagnosed. Typesofbreastcancer Thereareseveraldifferenttypesofbreastcancer,whichdevelopindifferentpartsofthebreast.Breastcancerisoftendividedintoeither:non-invasivebreastcancer(carcinomainsitu) – foundintheductsofthebreast(ductalcarcinomainsitu,orDCIS)whichhasnotspreadintothebreasttissuesurroundingtheducts.Non-invasivebreastcancerisusuallyfoundduringamammogramandrarelyshowsasabreastlump.invasivebreastcancer–wherethecancercellshavespreadthroughtheliningoftheductsintothesurroundingbreasttissue.Thisisthemostcommontypeofbreastcancer.Other,lesscommontypesofbreastcancerinclude:invasive(andpre-invasive)lobularbreastcancerinflammatorybreastcancerPaget'sdiseaseofthebreastIt'spossibleforbreastcancertospreadtootherpartsofthebody,usuallythroughthebloodortheaxillarylymphnodes.These aresmalllymphaticglandsthatfilterbacteriaandcellsfromthemammarygland.Ifthishappens,it'sknownassecondary,ormetastatic,breastcancer. Breastcancerscreening Mammographicscreening,whereX-rayimagesofthebreastaretaken,isthemostcommonlyavailablewayoffindingachangeinyourbreasttissue(lesion)atanearlystage.However,youshouldbeawarethatamammogrammightfailtodetectsomebreastcancers.Itmightalsoincreaseyourchancesofhavingextratestsandinterventions,includingsurgery,evenifyou'renotaffectedbybreastcancer.Womenwithahigher-than-averageriskofdevelopingbreastcancermaybeofferedscreeningandgenetictestingforthecondition.Astheriskofbreastcancerincreaseswithage,allwomenwhoare50to70yearsoldareinvitedforbreastcancerscreeningevery3years.Womenovertheageof 70arealsoentitledtoscreeningandcanarrangeanappointmentthroughtheirGPorlocalscreeningunit.TheNHSisintheprocessofextendingtheprogrammeasatrial,offeringscreeningtosomewomenaged47to73.Findoutmoreabout breastcancerscreening.Finda breastcancerscreeningservicesnearyou Treatingbreastcancer Ifcancerisdetectedatanearlystage,itcanbetreatedbeforeitspreadstootherpartsofthebody.Breastcanceristreatedusingacombinationof:surgerychemotherapyradiotherapySurgeryisusuallythefirsttypeoftreatmentyou'llhave,followedbychemotherapyorradiotherapyor,insomecases,hormoneortargetedtreatments.Thetypeofsurgeryandthetreatmentyouhaveafterwardswilldependonthetypeofbreastcanceryouhave.Yourdoctorshoulddiscussthebesttreatmentplanwithyou.Ina smallproportionofwomen,breastcancerisdiscoveredafterit'sspreadtootherpartsofthebody(metastaticbreastcancer).Secondarycancer,alsocalledadvancedormetastaticcancer,isnotcurable,sotheaimoftreatmentis to relievesymptoms.Findoutmoreabouttreatingbreastcancer. Livingwithbreastcancer Beingdiagnosedwithbreastcancercanaffectdailylifeinmanyways,dependingonwhatstage it'satand thetreatmentyouwillhave.Howpeoplecopewiththediagnosisandtreatmentvariesfrompersontoperson.Thereareseveralformsofsupportavailable,ifyouneedit.Formsofsupportmayinclude:familyandfriends,whocanbeapowerfulsupportsystemcommunicatingwithotherpeopleinthesamesituationfindingoutasmuchaspossibleaboutyourconditionnottryingtodotoomuchoroverexertingyourselfmakingtimeforyourselfFindoutmoreaboutlivingwithbreastcancer. Preventingbreastcancer Asthecausesofbreastcancerarenotfullyunderstood,atthemomentit'snotpossibletoknowifitcanbeprevented.Ifyouhaveanincreasedriskofdevelopingthecondition,sometreatmentsareavailabletoreduceyourrisk.Studieshavelookedatthelinkbetweenbreastcanceranddiet.Althoughtherearenodefiniteconclusions,therearebenefitsforwomenwho:maintainahealthyweightexerciseregularlyhavealowintakeofsaturated fatdonotdrinkalcoholIt'sbeensuggestedthatregularexercisecanreduceyourriskofbreastcancerbyalmostasmuchasathird.Regularexerciseandahealthylifestylecanalsoimprovetheoutlookforpeopleaffectedby breastcancer. Ifyou'vebeenthroughthemenopause,it'sparticularlyimportantthatyoutrytogetto,andmaintain,ahealthyweight.Thisisbecausebeingoverweightorobesecausesmoreoestrogentobeproduced,whichcanincreasetheriskofbreastcancer.Findoutmoreaboutpreventingbreastcancer. Pagelastreviewed:28October2019 Nextreviewdue:28October2022 Next : Symptoms