7 Warning Signs of Breast Cancer​​​​​​​

5. Changes in nipple appearance

Another sign that you may have breast cancer: The nipple retracts inward or looks pulled to the side. A change like this warrants a trip to your doctor.

6. Nipple discharge

Any discharge that isn’t breast milk is cause for concern. The discharge could include bleeding, though clear discharge can be a red flag too, says Dr. Elizabeth McDonald, a professor of radiology and director of breast MRI at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.

7. Breast pain

Pain from time to time in the breast is typically not a sign of breast cancer — in fact, it’s quite normal and can be linked to your menstrual cycle. But if you have pain in your breast or armpit that lingers, it could be an indicator of the disease.

Should you do self-exams?

About 66 percent of breast cancers in the United States are diagnosed in early stages, while still confined to the breast, Knudsen says. Such early breast cancers are unlikely to have outward signs or symptoms, she says.

But the fact that one-third of breast cancers are diagnosed later, when signs and symptoms are more likely, raises a question: Should you do regular breast self-exams to detect those changes as soon as possible?

Although monthly self-exams were once widely recommended, studies found that they did not increase early detection of breast cancer or lower death rates for women at average risk for breast cancer.

Today, many doctors recommend that women simply pay attention to how their breasts normally look and feel and how they change during monthly menstrual cycles and through life changes such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause and aging.

“It’s important for each woman to know what her normal is,” Cohen says. In general, he says, women should seek medical attention for “anything that they’re pretty sure wasn’t there before and persists over the course of a week or so.”

He adds that some women at high risk — such as those who have previously had breast cancer, have a strong family history or known genetic risks — might schedule more frequent regular breast exams with a doctor to try to catch changes as quickly as possible.

Women who get regular mammograms should be just as vigilant as those who’ve missed some screenings, as many U.S. women did during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, Knudsen says.

If a woman finds a lump or other change, she says, “it’s the right time to go to their provider, even if they’ve had a mammogram only three months before.… Timing is irrelevant.”

How often do you need a mammogram?

Guidelines on how often women should get screening mammograms vary. The American Cancer Society recommends women start getting regular mammograms at age 40 and continue annually through age 54; those over 55 can do them yearly or every other year. Mammograms should be continued as long as a woman is in good health and expected to live at least 10 more years.

“The most important thing is to get a mammogram every year, as the clinical outcomes are best when the cancer is detected through a screening modality long before the development of symptoms,” McDonald says. Women with dense breasts or a history of breast cancer should also consider supplemental screening with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. There is some debate regarding mammograms in older women. A 2023 report in the Annals of Internal Medicine says the risk for overdiagnosis and overtreatment is substantial in women 70 and up. If the test finds a slow-growing cancer or one that may not spread at all, it may not cause an issue. Mammograms don’t distinguish the type of cancer a person has and often lead to surgery or treatments that may not be necessary, authors of the report say.

Knudsen says it’s important for every woman to talk to her doctor about the best screening plan and to consider health history, family history and other factors.

Talk to your doctor about whether you should have a mammogram if you’re older than 75, Sedhom says. Some people are in good health so it makes sense to have one, while others will not want to pursue it.

A lot of older adults are undertreated because of age, Sedhom says, and if they’re healthy, they may benefit just as much with screening and treatment.

Women with dense breasts, who are often told mammography may not work for them, may want to consider mammograms as they age because the denseness decreases with age, making screening more effective, Sedhom says.

What happens if you find something?

Most women who show up at a doctor’s office with a breast lump or other worrisome change will get a diagnostic mammogram, Cohen says. That’s a more thorough and focused version of the familiar test used for screening. In addition, women with symptoms should expect an ultrasound exam of the affected breast, he says.

Most often, the testing does not turn up breast cancer. When it does, women and their doctors can start to work on a treatment plan.

What about men?

Yes, men can get breast cancer. Though men account for less than 1 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States, risk rises with age, just as it does in women. In 2025, approximately 2,800 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and about 510 will die from it, the ACS reports. (For comparison, about 316,950 women will be diagnosed this year, and 42,170 will die from the disease.)

There’s no breast cancer screening program for men, so paying attention to possible symptoms is especially important for them, Cohen says.

The symptoms are the same as in women, and lumps are, by far, the most common, he says. Because men have less breast tissue, the usual first symptom is “kind of like a little rock on the chest wall” that may not be visible but is easy to feel, he says.