My breast are always lumpy. Does this mean I have cancer, or that I'm at a higher risk of getting cancer?(breast cancer signs symptoms)

Breast Cancer signs symptoms
Have you ever felt a bumpy texture or "lumpiness" in your breasts? This lumpiness, plus tenderness or pain at certain times of the month, are called Fibrocystic breast changes. These changes are normal part of the menstrual cycle. You most likely to notice them in the pemenstrual phase of your cycle or if you are past menopause, when taking hormones. It's important to do monthly self-exams to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally look and feel and identify changes if they occur. Fibocystic changes do not increase your chance of getting breast cancer, and such lumps do not feel the way a cancerous lump would fibrocystic lumps are softer and more mobile, and they are usually several or many of them that comes and go with your cycle. In contrast, a breast lump that should be checked tends to be single, firm and does not change with your cycle.

Lumpiness is normal for some woman. It does not increase a woman's risk of cancer, but it may lull her into a false sense of security: knowing lumps are normal in her breasts, she may be tempted to ignore a lump, particularly if she isn't familiar with normal versus abnormal lumps. For this reason, breast self-exams are important: they're a way of knowing which lumps "belong" and which don't.
Breast cancer signs symptoms

Age (breast cancer signs symptoms)

Breast cancer signs symptoms

Age

The biggest single risk factor for breast cancer is age- the wear and tear of living-and, of course, that risk is always increasing. The average age of woman diagnosed with breast cancer is in her early 60s. This does not mean that younger woman in their 20s, 30s, and 40s don't get breast cancer, because they do; it simply means that, the older a woman gets, the greater her likehood of getting breast cancer, taking into account other risk factors. All women are different, and not all women over 60 will get breast cancer, they are simply, on average, more likely to get it than a woman in her 40s or 50s. The statistics mentioned-that 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in her lifetime- is frightening, but it is a cumulative statistics, covering a lifetime for over 70 years. More specific statistics, which account for a woman's age, tell a different ( and somewhat more reassuring) story: a woman in her late 30s, for instance, has about a 1 in 257 chance of getting breast cancer, whereas a woman in her mid-50s has about a 1 in 36 chance. The risk increase exponentially after age 30, but even in women 80 years old, the chance of developing cancer is roughly 1 in 24. So what does this mean? It means that, as women age, they need to be vigilant about watching for signs of changes in their breasts, because their risk has increased.
Breast Cancer signs Symptoms

What cause breast cancer? How do I determine whether I'm at risk?(breast cancer signs symptoms)

Breast cancer signs symptoms
If you are a woman, you're at risk for breast cancer-but you chances of getting it may be low, moderate, or high, depending on a number of risk factors.

Breast cancer signs symptoms
The fact is, no one factor can be pinpointed as the cause of breast cancer, but a complicated combination of many considerations can increase the chances that a woman will get it. Statistics from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End results Program (SEER) publication SEER cancer statistics Review 1973-1997 show that an average woman's lifetime chance of getting cancer are 1 and 8.

Breast cancer signs symptoms
So, how do you know if you're likely to be the "one" who gets breast cancer? A woman's risk of getting breast cancer is composed of a number of factors. The good news is, some of these factors can be controlled-her diet, her weight, the level and frequency of her exercise, and her use of alcohol are all elements that influence a woman's risk of breast cancer, and all of these can be changed (though some are changed more easily than others). The bad news is, some factors are either beyond a woman's control or are difficult to control: these include general attributes, such as attributes, such as race and family history of cancer, as well as attributes specific to the individual, such as her own history of disease such as uterine and ovarian cancer, as well as her overall physical history. Physical history includes current age, the age at which she got her first period, whether or not she had children, whether or not she breastfed a child, how old she was when she had children, or the age at which she reaches menopause. The important thing to understand is, while you can do nothing about many of the factors affecting your risk level, just knowing where you stand with respect to any or all of them can help you determine how concerned-and how vigilant-you need to be.(breast cancer signs symptoms)

Will I die if I get breast cancer? It is true that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women? (breast cancer signs symptoms)

Breast cancer signs symptoms
Breast cancer is a very frightening and dangerous disease, but it doesn't neccessarily mean you will die if you get it; many women survive for years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and a significant number are cured completely. How any individual case might turn out depends in large part on how far the cancer has progressed and what the woman and doctor do to treat it. So, It’s important to know about breast cancer signs symptoms earlier. Preventation is better than cure.

There is a lot of good when it comes to breast cancer.
First, death rates from cancer are on the decline.
Second, if caught early through self-exams or mammography, breast cancer can be cured.
Third advances in detection and treatment continue to improve prognosis and provide hope even to women with advanced cancer or with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer (Breast cancer signs symptoms).


According to the American Cancer society , lung cancer, not breast cancer, is the leading cause of cancer death among American women; however breast cancer is close second, and when you consider only women between the ages of 40 to 55, it comes in first. The fact is the only reason breast cancer isn't the principal cause of cancer death among women of all ages groups is because it is much easier to screen for, detect, and cure than lung cancer. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States, with over two million breast cancer survivors currently living in the United States today. The National Cancer Institute estimates that roughly 182, 000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in 2001.(Breast cancer signs symptoms)

Brown, Z. et. al, About breast cancer