Breast Cancer Information From Bupa UK
What Is Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in your breast tissue. Everyone has breast tissue. Each year in the UK, 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. In men, 350 are diagnosed each year.
What Are The Symptoms of Breast Cancer?
It’s important to be familiar with how your breasts normally look and feel. You may notice they change at different times of the month. If you notice a change that’s not normal for you, contact your GP. The pictures below show you what to look out for:
These are the most common symptoms of breast cancer.
- A lump or thickening in your breast. This will feel different from the rest of your breast tissue.
- Discharge or bleeding from your nipple. The discharge is new and isn’t milky.
- A change in the look or texture of your skin. Your skin might be red, puckered or look dimpled like the skin of an orange.
- Inflammation or a rash on or around your nipple. There may be redness, a rash or crusting on your nipple or around it.
- A change to your nipple. This might be a change to its shape or it may become sunken or inverted (turns inward).
- A lump or pain in your armpit. You might notice a lump in your armpit or feel pain there.
- A change in the size or shape of your breast. You may notice this particularly when you move your arms.
Having these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have breast cancer. Breast lumps are often benign (non-cancerous) and there are many causes of breast changes. But it’s always important to get any changes checked out.
Looking to see a GP? Visit Bupa’s Online Booking Tool for Private GP Appointments.
