It is vital for you to know the many symptoms of breast cancer and what to do if you suspect even one. Although the incidence of breast cancer has risen dramatically since 1970, the incidence of death due to breast cancer did not keep pace. This suggests that more education and screening for breast cancer symptoms, with earlier detection and much improved treatment protocols, may be attributed to helping the over two million women who have already been treated and are presently breast cancer survivors.

In your preventive efforts to look for breast cancer symptoms, you are encouraged to perform breast self-examinations monthly, around the end of your menstrual period or at the same time each month, if you are postmenopausal. You should be familiar with the size, shape and feel of your breasts so any changes will be noticed. Until the age of 40, you should have an examination of your breasts by your doctor every three years and then every year thereafter. Because some tumors develop without any breast cancer symptoms, it is still recommended that you have mammograms yearly, starting also at the age of 40. Although there is some controversy about mammograms, they can detect small tumors before they can be felt and before they have time to spread to other parts of your body.

To better understand a breast tumor, information follows about cancer itself, and where and how it develops in the breast. The imaging and testing methods that doctors follow to derive information about a woman’s tumor show there is much information to acquire and many ways to do it. The particulars of Stage III breast cancers are explained in detail, showing there are many specific differences within that classification, with a discussion of Stage IV breast cancer following. Women often talk about advanced breast cancer and the information below will clarify its individual difference.

Knowing what to look for in terms of breast cancer symptoms and knowing the basics about cancer itself can help you keep a level head if breast cancer (or even other cancers) touch you or someone you love!