Breast Evaluation and Treatment Program

Breast Cancer

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Women should do monthly breast self-exams to check for the following symptoms:

changes in the size or shape of the breast
discharge from the nipple
a lump or thickening in the breast or armpit
dimpling, puckering or changes in the color of the skin of the breast

A doctor or nurse can show you how to perform a self-exam at home.

If you find any changes in your breast you should see adoctor.

Your doctor may recommend that you have a mammogram, a special x-ray of the breast that can find tumors that are too small to feel. Learn more information about our diagnostic services at the Division of Breast Imaging/Mammography

If you have a lump in your breast, your doctor may need to cut out a small piece of the tissue and look at it under a microscope to see if it contains any cancer cells. This procedure is called a biopsy. If the biopsy shows that there is cancer in the breast, other tests (estrogen and progesterone receptor tests) will be done to evaluate the cancer cells.

Tissue from the tumor will be taken to the laboratory for estrogen and progesterone receptor tests at the time of biopsy. The purpose of these tests is to find out whether hormones affect the way the cancer grows. The tests may also reveal information about the chances of the tumor coming back (recurring). The test results help doctors decide whether or not to use hormone therapy to stop the cancer from growing.

The chance of recovery (prognosis) and choice of treatment for breast cancer depend on:

the stage of the cancer (whether it is just in the breast or has spread to other places in the body)
the type of breast cancer
certain characteristics of the cancer cells
whether the cancer is found in the other breast

A woman's age, weight, menopausal status (whether or not a woman is still having menstrual periods) and general health can also affect the prognosis and choice of treatment.

This page was last updated on: March 3, 2008.