Do You Know What You Are Feeling For?

The most common sign of breast cancer is a lump deep in the breast. It often feels hard and immovable like a lemon seed. It can be any shape or size. A lump is not always easy to feel. If you have access to breast cancer screening, use it—a mammogram can detect a lump long before it can be felt. You may feel other lumps in your breasts that feel more like soft peas or beans, and these are milk lobes and lymph nodes.

Most lumps turn out to be fine, such as a fluid-filled cyst. But if you notice a hard lump that doesn’t come and go with your menstrual cycle, don’t ignore it. The sooner breast cancer is found, the more treatable it can be.