The Symptoms of breast cancer vary from woman to woman, and the symptoms some types of breast cancer may change as it progresses from one stage to another. Before we get into the symptoms of breast cancer, let’s cover what breast cancer is. Breast cancer is breast tissue cells that have grown out of control. We have genes inside of our body that regulate cell growth. Each cell of the body has genes, and those genes act like controllers for what goes on inside of the cells. Sometimes, as new cells are formed, the genes mutate, causing the genetic code to change. The mutated cells have the ability to turn the genes in other cells on and off, which can cause an abnormal growth rate of certain cells within the breast.

Some of the symptoms of breast cancer are directly related to the abnormal growth of cells in the breast tissue. For instance, you may do a breast self-exam and find a lump that wasn’t there before. You may also see puckering of the skin of the breast, and the nipple on one of your breasts may be inverted. There may be a feeling of thickness in the breast that wasn’t felt before. You may also notice a patch on the skin that looks and feels similar to a callus. There are many symptoms of breast cancer, and there are more symptoms as breast cancer advances to the later stages.

As cancer progresses, you may discover a lump under your arm. This happens as cancer cells move out of their place of origin and begin to move through the nearby tissues. As breast cancer cells move they get into the lymphatic symptoms and set up residence in the lymph nodes. As the breast cancer cells continue to multiply you may begin to feel tenderness, and you may begin to feel the lump. However, cancer cells can grow in the lymph nodes and be too small to be felt in a routine breast self-exam.

In Stage 0 breast cancer you may or may not feel a lump. The cancer cells will remain in the breast duct. In Stage I you may or may not be able to feel a small lump in the breast or in the lymph nodes under the arm. In Stage IIA you may be able to feel a lump about the size of a grape in the breast and you may or may not be able to feel cancer growing in the lymph nodes. In this stage there may be a slightly larger tumor in the breast, but no cancer in the lymph nodes. In Stage IIB you may or may not be able to feel a tumor in the breast, and the cancer can spread to stick to lymph nodes around the breast bone and other structures in that area. You may be able to feel and estimate the size of the tumors in Stage IIIA, IIIB, IIIC, and IV.

Breast dimpling isn’t always from breast cancer, but it can be. The reason you notice the skin on your breast dimpling is because the tissues underneath are retracted by the way the invasive cancer cells are attached. Sometimes cancer cells stick to different structures, including lymph and blood vessels. As the cancer cells pull on the structures under the skin the skin will pucker or dimple.

Thickening of the skin can be can be caused by inflammatory breast cancer. Some types of cancer grow in sheets, rather than in clumps. The cancer cells can penetrate and invade tissues of the breast and penetrate the skin. The skin may look and feel different. You can definitely feel a thickening of the skin. Sometimes the thickness may look something like a callus on the skin. The skin may have a different texture, and may feel and look something like the skin on an orange.

When breast cancer metastasizes, cells from the breast cancer move away from their point of origin to other parts of the body. This is sometimes called secondary breast cancer. You may have symptoms in other parts of your body. For instance, if cancer cells move to your bones, you may have pain. If cancer cells move to your lungs you may have shortness of breath and other breathing related symptoms. Breast cancer cells that move to your bone, brain, lung and other areas are called secondary breast cancer.

Obviously, you may not always see or feel any signs and symptoms of breast cancer; it is vitally important that women do monthly breast self-exams. It is also important to have a clinical breast exam yearly, and if you are 40 and over you should have a mammogram every one or two years.

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