Breast cancer diagnosis

I believe that more and more women have realized the harm that breast cancer can cause to the body, and have also realized the high incidence of breast cancer in recent years. Therefore, most female friends will regularly diagnose their breasts in daily life to see if they have early symptoms of breast cancer. Because in the early stages of breast cancer, patients will show many symptoms, so which symptoms are related to the diagnosis of breast cancer?

The main diseases in the differential diagnosis of breast cancer are as follows

1. Breast fibroadenoma: It is common in young women with active and disordered endocrine system, mostly between 20 and 30 years old. The lump is obvious, mostly located in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, round or oblate, and generally less than 3 cm. Single or multiple, tough in texture, smooth or nodular in surface, with clear boundaries, no adhesions, and a sliding feel to the touch. The lump is painless and grows slowly, but it increases rapidly during pregnancy and is rarely painful, but there is a possibility of malignancy.

.2. Mastodynia: It is also a pathological stage of dysplasia of the breast. The main manifestation is that many small uneven nodules can be felt on the breast, and most of them are accompanied by mild spontaneous pain. Especially before menstruation, the breasts are obviously swollen and painful, and sometimes they are so painful that they cannot be touched, which is very painful for patients.

3. Fibrocystic breast disease: It is caused by functional endocrine disorders. Its essence is neither inflammation nor tumor, but a disorder of normal structure. There are usually typical signs and symptoms, which are easy to distinguish. Sclerosing adenosis often presents indurated nodules with unclear boundaries in the breast, which are small in size and often difficult to distinguish clinically from breast cancer. It should be differentiated through multiple physical examinations.

4. Glandular cystic hyperplasia: This disease is a pathological stage of abnormal mammary gland proliferation. It mostly occurs in older people and is prone to multiple occurrences. Sometimes it appears as cord-like nodules with unclear boundaries and is a precancerous lesion.

5. Breast tuberculosis: It is relatively rare, mostly spread from chest wall tuberculosis, which can rupture and discharge caseous pus. Pay attention to the fact that tuberculosis lesions are often found in other parts of the body at the same time during examination. The clinical manifestations are inflammatory lesions, which may form lumps, sometimes larger and sometimes smaller. Patients do not necessarily have pulmonary tuberculosis, and are often accompanied by enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Clinically, one-third of patients are difficult to distinguish from cancer.

6. Breast cysts: can be divided into milk cysts and blood cysts. Milk accumulation is more common in women who are breastfeeding or pregnant, and it is not difficult to diagnose based on medical history and physical signs. Hematoma is often seen in trauma, because the accumulated blood blocks the milk ducts and forms an inflammatory mass without being absorbed.

7. Papilloma: It can be single or multiple. Single-episode patients are mostly elderly women, and 50% have bloody discharge. Multiple cases present as diffuse nodules without obvious masses. This tumor can become malignant.

8. Plasma cell mastitis: also known as non-lactation mastitis. It is extremely rare, and most cases have a history of acute onset, with symptoms such as pain and fever, but they quickly subside after anti-inflammatory treatment. When the localized acute inflammation subsides, there will be a lump in the breast, which may adhere to the skin and can easily be misdiagnosed as breast cancer. Mammary duct obstruction is often caused by various reasons, resulting in the overflow of fatty substances in the mammary ducts and entering the surrounding tissues of the ducts, causing aseptic inflammation. In the acute phase, sudden breast pain, redness, swelling, nipple inversion, and swollen axillary lymph nodes may occur, which can easily be misdiagnosed as inflammatory breast cancer.

9. Fat necrosis: It often occurs in the outer part of the breast of obese women. Most of them have a history of trauma and require cell activity testing for identification.

10. Cystaphylosarcoma phyllodes: It is more common in people aged 35-40 years old, develops slowly, and the tumor is lobed, some parts are hard as stone, and some areas are cystic. The tumor is often large, sometimes ulcerated, and rarely fixed to the chest. It is often mistaken for advanced breast cancer, but the therapeutic effect is very good after radical surgery. Metastasis is rare, usually in the blood, with occasional lymphatic metastasis.

11. Malignant lymphoma of the breast: It is relatively rare, accounting for about 0.04%~0.52% of malignant breast tumors. The most common age is 50 to 60 years old, more common in women, and usually single. The clinical manifestation is often a rapidly enlarging mass, which sometimes occupies the entire breast. The mass is massive, nodular, or lobed, with clear boundaries, a firm, elastic texture, and no adhesion to the skin or breast. When the tumor is huge, the surface skin is thin, the blood vessels dilate, and ulceration occurs. Axillary lymph nodes may also be affected at the same time. Clinical diagnosis is often difficult. X-rays are often difficult to distinguish from other malignant tumors and require pathological sections to be confirmed.