Women are at more risk of having breast cancer than men are. One of the reasons why women are likely to develop breast cancer is because women’s breasts are always exposed to growth-promoting effects of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer can be any type of cancer that develops in the breast. This normally happens when your cells begin growing out of control. You will know that you have breast cancer when you have a lump that could be felt on your hand. While breast cancer is common in women, men can get breast cancer too.
What ages get breast cancer? Most breast cancers are found in women who are 50 years old or older. Some women will get breast cancer even without any other risk factors that they know of. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get the disease, and not all risk factors have the same effect.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include:
- A breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue
- Change in the size, shape or appearance of a breast
- Changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling
- A newly inverted nipple
- Peeling, scaling, crusting or flaking of the pigmented area of skin surrounding the nipple (areola) or breast skin
- Redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orang.
When to see a doctor
If you find a lump or other change in your breast — even if a recent mammogram was normal — make an appointment with your doctor for prompt evaluation.
Your doctor will use one of the below ways to diagnose breast cancer:
Mammogram
Your doctor will use an x-ray of the breast to confirm breast cancer. This kind of test is useful at an early age for your breast cancer. Mammography is the process of using low-energy X-rays to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through the detection of characteristic masses or microcalcifications.
MRI scan
This is another way of diagnosing breast cancer. Your doctor uses MRIs to see the size of your cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a type of scan that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body. An MRI scanner is a large tube that contains powerful magnets. You lie inside the tube during the scan.
Breast ultrasound
A doctor can get a breast ultrasound around your skin to detect cancer. With this machine, a doctor can see if your cancer is a fluid-filled cyst or not. Breast ultrasound is the use of medical ultrasonography to perform imaging of the breast. It can be considered either a diagnostic or a screening procedure. It may be used either with or without a mammogram.
Nipple discharge exam
Your doctor can take the fluid from your nipple and send it to the lab to confirm whether or not you have breast cancer. If you search “Breast Cancer Newport beach“, you can find a center that uses other tests, such as a CT (CAT) scan, PET scan, and cutting-edge technologies.
