Remember these breast cancer signs, symptoms

The American Cancer Society gives these tips for early detection of breast cancer.

Knowing how your breasts normally look and feel is an important part of breast health. Finding breast cancer as early as possible gives you a better chance of successful treatment. But knowing what to look for does not take the place of having regular mammograms and other screening tests. Screening tests can help find breast cancer in its early stages, before any symptoms appear.

The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancer, but breast cancers can be tender, soft or rounded. They can even be painful. For this reason, it is important to have any new breast mass, lump or breast change checked by a healthcare professional experienced in diagnosing breast diseases.

Other possible symptoms of breast cancer include:

• Swelling of all or part of a breast, even if no distinct lump is felt

• Skin irritation or dimpling, sometimes looking like an orange peel

• Breast or nipple pain

• Nipple retraction or turning inward

• Redness, scaliness or thickening of the nipple or breast skin

• Nipple discharge other than breast milk

Sometimes a breast cancer can spread to lymph nodes under the arm or around the collar bone and cause a lump or swelling there, even before the original tumor in the breast is large enough to be felt. Swollen lymph nodes should also be checked by a healthcare provider.

Although any of these symptoms can be caused by things other than breast cancer, if you have them, they should be reported to a healthcare professional so that the cause can be found.

Because mammograms do not find every breast cancer, it is important for you to be aware of changes in your breasts and to know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.