Symptoms of breast cancer

General complaints

In the early stages of breast cancer, there are no characteristic symptoms that indicate the disease. Usually, the first sign patients notice is a coarse (coarse) lump in the breast, which usually does not hurt. An asymmetry in the size or shape of the breasts may also be noticeable.

The diseased breast can be much larger than the healthy breast, but small swellings are also possible. Also possible are retractions of the skin above the point where the tumour lies in the fatty tissue. From the outside this is visible as a notch in the breast. In most cases, breast cancer affects only one breast, whereby the left breast is statistically more frequently affected than the right breast. In some cases there is not one large tumour in the breast, but several small ones.

Symptoms of the chest

Breast cancer generally shows symptoms only in advanced stages. This includes palpation of a lump or a kind of nodular change in the breast. Screening examinations try to detect changes such as small calcifications before a nodule develops.

However, nodular changes do not necessarily mean that the prognosis is bad, as there are many benign tumours in the breast. The most frequent are malignant palpation findings, in the upper, outer quarter of the breast. In fact, more than half of the malignant lumps are located in this section of the breast.

However, when a palpation finding is made, one should first of all remain calm and have a medical examination without delay. Benign lumps in the breast are much more common. These include above all cysts and so-called fibroadenomas (benign tumours).

People often become aware of breast cancer by feeling lumps in the breast. In most cases these lumps are not painful and do not react to pressure with pain. Sometimes, however, there may be pain in the breast.

These usually have a dull character and are often difficult to localise. However, this varies greatly from woman to woman. In the advanced stage, the cancer can also lead to deep skin wounds.

Severe pain is very typical in such an advanced stage. The skin of the affected breast can also be sensitive and sometimes painful to touch. In inflammatory breast cancer, pain in the breast and nipple is common.

This form of cancer attacks the skin severely and causes large tissue defects and wounds in an advanced stage. Another special feature is the so-called Paget’s disease. This cancer attacks the nipple and surrounding skin and manifests itself through itching, burning and pain in this region.

Often women themselves notice changes in their breast tissue and consult a doctor. Mostly it is suspicious lumps or nodules in the breast, which are noticeable when the breast is palpated independently or during personal hygiene. Sometimes, however, there are also changes in body awareness and perception of the breast that women can only notice themselves.

This can be an unpleasant pulling of the breast. Pulling the breast need not be a cause for concern at first, as the breast tissue can sometimes be pulled or pressed due to hormonal fluctuations. Most women know their cycle quite well and notice if a pulling is rather unusual or untypical for their own breast.

It can be an indication of breast cancer, but a pulling does not usually hide a malignant cause. It is often small cysts or benign tumours that can lead to a slight pulling from time to time. Nevertheless, new and unusual symptoms should be clarified by a doctor.

A possible symptom of breast cancer is a retraction of the nipple. The nipple is then no longer flat or bulging outwards as it normally would be, but retracts into the breast or appears dented. This symptom can be suspicious of a malignant disease and should therefore be clarified by a doctor as soon as possible.

The tumour not only changes the appearance of the nipple, but can also lead to further breast deformities and changes in the skin of the breast. Skin retractions near the nipple are also typical. Breast tumours that become symptomatic in the area around the nipple are often Paget’s disease.

A possible symptom in the course of the disease may be the so-called orange phenomenon. When the cancer cells of the tumour grow into the tissue of the subcutaneous tissue, they can pull in parts of the skin and the skin then looks similar to the peel of an orange. In women who are not exactly breastfeeding, milk leakage from the nipple can be another sign associated with the disease.

If the cancer is more advanced, the lymph nodes in the armpit and above the collarbone may also become enlarged. Very rarely, pain can be a symptom of advanced breast cancer. Persistent redness and overheating of the breast over a longer period of time can occur in inflammatory breast cancer or be a sign of breast inflammation.

In such cases it is important to have the symptoms clarified by an expert. If you feel a prick in the breast tissue, there can be many causes. Only rarely is it really breast cancer.

In the far more frequent cases, the female cycle is responsible for the stinging. Due to the hormonal course of the cycle, the breast tissue is subject to constant change. This can sometimes lead to slight pricking or pulling.

Cysts or benign fibroadenomas can also cause stinging. This is very common, especially in young women. Some women who have breast cancer report a prick in the breast.

Unlike a heart attack, this twinge is felt in the breast tissue and not in the chest. This feeling is usually caused by the cancer displacing other breast tissue. This can lead not only to a stinging but also to dull pain.

The perception of the stinging is very subjective and is recommended differently by each woman. Many women do not even notice their disease for a long time and are diagnosed by chance during the early detection examination or at the gynaecologist. Pricking in the breast tissue can also occur without any disease being present.

It is very important not to associate a prick in the breast with a malignant diagnosis prematurely. Most women experience a twinge in the breast tissue from time to time. However, if the stinging occurs repeatedly in the same place, is very strong or unfamiliar to the person affected, a cancerous disease could be hidden behind it.

Additional symptoms, such as nodular changes in the breast, retraction of the nipple, secretions from the nipple and changes in the size of the breast confirm the suspicion. Therefore, for safety’s sake you should consult a gynaecologist and have the stinging cleared up. A twinge in the chest, however, as is known in heart or lung diseases, for example, is not typical for breast cancer.

Some women who have breast cancer report having a prick in the breast. Unlike a heart attack, this twinge is felt in the breast tissue and not in the chest. This feeling is usually caused by the cancer displacing other breast tissue.

This can lead not only to a stinging but also to dull pain. The perception of the stinging is very subjective and is recommended differently by each woman. Many women do not even notice their disease for a long time and are diagnosed by chance during the early detection examination or at the gynaecologist.

Pricking in the breast tissue can also occur without any disease being present. It is very important not to associate a prick in the breast with a malignant diagnosis prematurely. Most women experience a twinge in the breast tissue from time to time.

However, if the stinging occurs repeatedly in the same place, is very strong or unfamiliar to the person affected, a cancerous disease could be hidden behind it. Additional symptoms, such as nodular changes in the breast, retraction of the nipple, secretions from the nipple and changes in the size of the breast confirm the suspicion. Therefore, for safety’s sake you should consult a gynaecologist and have the stinging cleared up.

A twinge in the chest, however, as is known in heart or lung diseases, for example, is not typical for breast cancer. The sensation of symptoms is often very subjective. One tries to summarize frequent and impressive symptoms for a disease so that one can orientate oneself on this clinical picture.

This makes it easier to match causes to symptoms and find the right diagnosis. In the case of breast cancer, however, the perception of the breast is very individual. Although burning is not necessarily a common symptom, it can occur in breast cancer.

For example, a burning sensation of the skin and nipple is a very typical symptom of Paget’s disease. Often it is not easy to distinguish between burning, pain or stinging. Everyone perceives these sensations somewhat differently.

The decisive factor is the subjective feeling of a change in the breast tissue. Frequently, bloody discharge from the breast occurs with inflammatory diseases of the breast. Bloody or one-sided secretions from a nipple can also indicate a possible breast cancer.

The bloody secretion is not always red, sometimes dark brown to black colouring of the secretion is possible. If such changes occur, however, further clarification by the treating gynaecologist is always advisable and sensible. In some breast tumours, the degeneration arises in the area of the glandular tissue of the milk ducts around the nipple.

The tumours behind the nipple can lead to retraction of the nipple. The tumour growing behind the affected nipple “pulls” the nipple into the subcutaneous fatty tissue in the direction of its growth. This form of cancer usually does not present itself through lumps or hardening of the breast, but through unilateral, i.e. one nipple and one breast affecting, crusty and reddish-scaly changes of the skin surface, which initially make one think of an inflammation of the skin or eczema.

These scaly “inflammations” typically start in the area of the nipple and gradually spread from there to the surrounding breast skin. In the course of the disease, the typical retraction of the nipple typical of breast cancer often occurs. Crusty and scaly changes in the skin surface of the breast can, however, also occur in more harmless skin diseases and should be clarified by a gynaecologist.

Pain in the arm is not a classic symptom of breast cancer. Often the disease is not painful anyway. However, when pain does occur, the sensation of it can be very subjective.

Also a pulling into the arm or a kind of pain in the arm is described by some affected persons. If you have the feeling that your chest feels different than usual and the arm of the affected side hurts, you should have this clarified by a doctor. Pain in the arm is more typical after breast cancer surgery.

In most cases, lymph nodes in the armpit are removed in addition to the breast cancer, as the cancer spreads via these lymph nodes. The removal of the lymph nodes can lead to congestion of the lymph. This can lead to swelling and pain in the affected arm.

However, the risk of such lymphedema is rather low with current procedures and good follow-up care using lymph drainage. More information on this topic under: Irradiation in breast cancer Itching may not sound like a typical symptom of breast cancer at first. Itching is rather associated with skin diseases, which is why breast cancer does not come directly to mind.

However, itching of the breast skin and nipple may be suspicious of a malignant cause. A special form of breast cancer, called Paget’s disease, causes long-lasting itching in this region. It is often confused with eczema of the nipple and is therefore often initially treated incorrectly, with various creams, and misdiagnosed.

It is recommended to consult your gynaecologist if the itching of the breast or nipple is new and unusually long-lasting. In advanced stages, breast cancer can also lead to so-called accompanying symptoms. These include symptoms such as fever, fatigue, tiredness and night sweats. The drugs used in chemotherapy can also cause fatigue and exhaustion in the course of tumour therapy. The fatigue can also occur as a result of the psychological strain of such an illness.