Most people with breast cancer don't have any symptoms when they're diagnosed. Their tumour is usually found by a breast cancer screening test. For those who do have symptoms, the most common thing is a new lump in the breast. The majority of breast lumps are not cancerous, but lumps that are painless, hard, and with irregular edges are more likely to be cancerous. Other symptoms can include swelling or pain in the breast, as well as dimpling, thickening, redness, or dryness of the breast skin. You might also experience pain or inversion of the nipple. Some people may notice unusual discharge from the breasts or swelling of the lymph nodes under the arms or along the collarbone.
Some less common types of breast cancer cause specific symptoms. Up to 5% of people with breast cancer have inflammatory breast cancer, where cancer cells block the lymph vessels of one breast, causing the breast to swell and redden quite a bit over three to six months. Around 3% of people with breast cancer have Paget's disease of the breast, which causes eczema-like red, scaly irritation on the nipple and areola.
As the tumour grows, it can spread to other parts of the body. This is called metastasis. The most common places it goes are the bones, liver, lungs and brain. When it spreads to the bones, it can cause swelling, pain and make the bones weaker. This can lead to fractures. Liver metastases can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and skin problems like a rash, itchy skin, or yellowing of the skin (jaundice). People with lung metastases often experience chest pain, shortness of breath and regular coughing. If the cancer spreads to the brain, it can cause headaches that don't go away, seizures, nausea and vomiting. It can also affect how the person speaks, sees, remembers things and behaves normally.
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