Breast lumps are found in most patients, although sometimes the lump is seen only on mammography and no mass can be felt. The cancer is often hard and irregular and may feel different from the rest of the breast. There may also be a persistent lump in the armpit (axilla), a symptom of enlarged lymph glands. Pain in the breast is more often due to a benign condition, but medical evaluation is advised.
Spontaneous discharge from the nipple of one breast may indicate breast cancer but most discharges are from benign conditions and most cancers do not have a discharge. There may be irregularity or retraction of the breast skin or nipple. Scaling of the nipple may indicate Paget's disease, a form of local nipple cancer.
In advanced cases, there may be significant swelling or distortion of the skin or breast. Skin pores may be accentuated because of lymphatic involvement, creating an appearance resembling the skin of an orange, known medically as peau d'orange. This may indicate the advanced stage called inflammatory breast carcinoma , which may also be signaled by redness, swelling or increased heat in the skin.
Breast cancer may occasionally first appear as metastatic disease, with signs or symptoms related to whatever other organ is involved—pain in an area of bony metastasis , swelling in the neck, lung nodules seen on chest x-rays or liver enlargement.
