Remember to look beneath each breast, using your hands to lift the breasts if necessary. Look at your breasts and check each breast for anything unusual, such as puckering, dimpling, scales or changes in size, shape or symmetry. Degree of hormonal influences on the breast (particularly oestrogen and progesterone).Thickness and elasticity of the breast skin.Doctors recommend that women practice monthly breast self-examinations the week following menstruation when the breasts are least tender.įactors that may influence a woman’s breast size include: The milk glands and ducts enlarge, and in turn, the breasts retain water.ĭuring menstruation, breasts may temporarily feel swollen, painful, tender, or lumpy. It is usually easier for radiologists to detect breast cancer in older women because abnormal areas are easier to spot.ĭuring each menstrual cycle, breast tissue tends to swell from changes in the body’s levels of oestrogen and progesterone. As a woman ages, her breasts become less dense and the space is filled with fatty tissue shown as dark areas on mammography x-rays. In general, younger women have denser breasts. All other components of the breast (glands, connective tissue, tumors, calcium deposits, etc.) appear as shades of white on a mammogram. Fat appears as black regions on the films. On mammogram films, breast masses, including both non-cancerous and cancerous lesions, appear as white regions. As women grow older, the proportion of fat increases and breasts tend to droop more. Young women have more glandular tissue than older women, making their breasts former and denser. When the nipple is stimulated, the muscle fibers will contract, the areola will pucker, and the nipples become hard.īreasts change through a woman’s life. The Montgomery’s gland helps lubricate the areola. The areola also houses the Montgomery’s gland that may appear as tiny, raised bumps on the surface of the areola. The nipple and areola (pigmented region surrounding the nipple) contain specialized muscle fibers that respond to stimulation to make the nipple erect. The color of the nipple is determined by the thinness and pigmentation of its skin. The nipple can be flat, round, or cylindrical in shape. Since there are hair follicles around the nipple, hair on the breast is not uncommon. Inverted nipples are not a cause for concern unless the condition is a new change. Some women also have inverted (turned in) nipples. In others, they will only become erect when stimulated by cold or touch. In some women, the nipples are constantly erect. The size and characteristics of the nipple also vary greater from one woman to another. Usually, one breast is slightly larger or smaller, higher or lower, or shaped differently than the other. Other women have a smaller amount of tissue with little breast fat.Ī woman’s breasts are rarely balanced (symmetrical). Some women have a large amount of breast tissue, and therefore, have large breasts. The size and shape of women’s breasts varies considerably. Mammography screening is an effective tool for early detection. Clinical breast examination is a screening method where breasts are examined by a health professional such as a doctor or nurse. However, it does not accurately determine the presence of breast cancer. Is used as a starting point for women to be aware of their breasts. There is no question that early detection tests for breast cancer save many thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women took advantage of these tests. Finding a breast cancer as early as possible greatly improves the likelihood that treatment will be successful. The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are the most important factors in predicting the prognosis (the outlook for chances of survival) of a woman with this disease. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be small and still confined to the breast. Early detection means applying a strategy that results in an earlier diagnosis of breast cancer than otherwise might have occurred.īreast cancers that are detected because they are causing symptoms tend to be relatively larger and are more likely to have spread beyond the breast. Screening refers to tests and examinations used to detect a disease, such as cancer, in people who do not have any symptoms. The goal of screening exams for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms.
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