1. Breast lump
80% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed as breast masses for the first time. Patients often inadvertently find breast lumps, mostly single, hard, irregular edges and unsmooth surfaces. Breast cancer is mostly painless mass, and only a few of them are accompanied by dull pain or tingling to varying degrees.
2. nipple discharge
During non-pregnancy period, blood, serous fluid, milk and pus flow out from the nipple, or milk still flows out after stopping breastfeeding for more than half a year, which is called nipple discharge. There are many reasons for nipple discharge. Common diseases include intraductal papilloma, mammary hyperplasia, mammary duct dilatation and breast cancer. Unilateral single-hole bloody secretion should be further examined, especially if accompanied by breast mass.
3. Skin changes
There are many signs of skin changes caused by breast cancer. The most common thing is that the tumor invades the Cooper's ligament, which connects the breast skin and the deep fascia of the chest, making it short and inelastic, pulling the skin at the corresponding position, resulting in "dimple sign", that is, a small depression appears in the breast skin, like a small dimple. If cancer cells block lymphatic vessels, there will be "orange peel-like changes", that is, many small spots appear on the breast skin, just like orange peel. In the late stage of breast cancer, cancer cells infiltrate the skin along lymphatic vessels, glandular ducts or fibrous tissues and grow, forming scattered hard nodules in the skin around the main cancer focus, which are called "skin satellite nodules".
4. Abnormal nipple and areola
The tumor is located in or near the nipple, which can cause nipple invagination. When the tumor is far away from the nipple and the large duct in the breast is invaded and shortened, it can also cause the nipple to retract or bulge. Eczematous carcinoma of the nipple, namely paget's disease of the breast, is characterized by itching, erosion, ulcer, scabbing, desquamation and burning pain of the nipple skin, leading to nipple invagination.
5. Axillary lymphadenopathy
More than 1/3 of breast cancer patients admitted to large hospitals have axillary lymph node metastasis. At the initial stage, the axillary lymph nodes on the same side may be enlarged, and the enlarged lymph nodes are hard, scattered and pushable. With the development of the disease, lymph nodes gradually fuse and attach to the skin and surrounding tissues. Metastatic lymph nodes can be felt in advanced clavicle and contralateral armpit.