Learn about your risks for developing breast cancer by consulting reputable websites, such as those of the National Cancer Institute and the comprehensive cancer centers, or scientific books like the ones listed with this article. Risks include familial factors, note Sue Huether and Kathryn McCance in their book, "Understanding Pathophysiology." A history of breast cancer in first-degree relatives--mother or sister--increases a woman's risk two to three times observe Huether and McCance.
Regularly examine your breasts. This enables you to report changes to health-care professionals immediately. Changes might include a lump or swelling, skin irritation or dimpling, nipple pain or retraction, redness or scaliness of the nipple or breast skin, or a discharge other than breast milk, notes the American Cancer Society. Heat and redness of the skin would suggest inflammation, which might signify cancer.
Visit your physician for a clinical breast exam. This enables you to combine knowledge of your own breasts with the less personal but broader knowledge physicians command. A health-care professional can instruct you how to examine yourself, what to look for and the significance of pertinent risk factors, notes the American Cancer Society.
If a clinical exam suggests the possibility of cancer, get a diagnostic mammogram. The American Cancer Society recommends that any woman over age 40 should have an annual mammogram. Mammograms detect about 85 to 90 percent of existing breast cancers.
Consider fine-needle aspiration to determine whether a lump is a cyst or a tumor. If a cyst, it should disappear after aspiration. A needle can take more than one sample of cells, reducing the chances of a false-negative result. A stereotactic needle-guided biopsy enables diagnosis of benign disease without the scarring of an excisional biopsy.
Get an excisional biopsy under any of the following three conditions, advise Joyce Black and Jane Hawks in their textbook, "Medical Surgical Nursing:" The examiner finds that the lesion is solid and indeterminate in nature; analysis of cell samples fails to rule out cancer; or either clinical or mammographic findings suggest cancer.
Remember that not every breast abnormality involves cancer. Inflammation, for example, can arise from infection, or mastitis, note Donna Wong and colleagues in their book, "Maternal Child Nursing Care."
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