Could You Have Breast Cancer? - The Signs And Symptoms For Stages 1 To 4

Breast cancer is easily one of the most common forms of cancer and unfortunately it is also one of the hardest cancers to diagnose in the early stages. The lack of definite signs and symptoms means that many of the new cases diagnosed on a daily basis are already in a well developed stage, and sadly some are passed the point of treatment.

So what are the signs and symptoms of breast cancer that everyone should look for?

Stage 1 breast cancer

A case of breast cancer that is diagnosed as stage 1 will still be confined to the breast tissue. This means that the signs of illness will generally be related to the breasts, or more commonly a single breast.

Signs to look for include:

A lump or swelling within the breast. The lump can be situated just below the skin or deep down in the breast tissue, but either way it is often painless.

An 'orange peel' appearance of the skin around the area of the lump. The skin will often look dimpled but in a lot of cases the dimpling is missed because it is so slight.

A sudden inversion of the nipple. This is where the nipple becomes drawn into the breast and is very easy to spot. This symptom is however quite rare.

Nipple discharge that is blood stained. Any nipple discharge should be reported to a physician and never more so than if it is blood stained.

Stage 2 breast cancer

The signs and symptoms of stage 2 breast cancer are very similar to those described above, although they may be more pronounced and easy to recognize. Again, the cancer is still confined to the breast tissue in stage 2 and so additional symptoms are rare.

Stage 3 and 4 breast cancer

By the time breast cancer reaches stage 3 and 4 it has invariably spread to other areas of the bodyand this is when additional signs and symptoms become apparent. Although breast cancer can spread to anywhere in the body the common sites include the lungs, the liver, the lymph nodes and the bones.

Obviously the symptoms that are experienced depend on the secondary sites that become affected however common symptoms include the following:

Shortness of breath, wheezing on mild exertion and a chronic cough when the cancer spreads to the lungs. A feeling of being continually bloated, pain in the abdomen, jaundice, and ongoing fatigue when the liver becomes a secondary site for the cancer. Persistent infections, a general feeling of being unwell, sores, cuts and abrasions that won't heal and swellings in the neck and groin when the lymph nodes are affected. Pain within the long bones and unexplained bone fractures when the bones become cancerous.

These signs and symptoms aren't specific to breast cancer however they do indicate that some form of cancer is present within the body. The initial breast cancer lump will be very obvious by this stage and so will help with a diagnosis.

Any of the symptoms mentioned above should be reported to your doctor and especially if there are abnormalities within the breast tissue itself. Hopefully any symptoms you do have will turn out to be something far less serious but as the saying goes 'it's better to be safe than sorry'.

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