Could I have breast cancer as a teen?

Question

Im gonna turn 16 at the beginning of january. And a month or 2 ago I noticed a lump in my breast. and it hasn't gone away. Ii is hard and moves around and sometimes hurts when I touch it. Is it possible for me to have breast cancer? Any other signs of cancer besides a lump?

Answer 1

Lumpy breasts are very common in girls and women. In most cases, breast lumps are not a sign of breast cancer. Teenagers, both girls and boys, will often feel a lump called an "adolescent nodule." An adolescent nodule is a sore, swollen spot just under the nipple that will go away without any medical intervention. Although breast cancer is very rare in teens, anytime you feel a lump it's a good idea to have it checked by your health care provider.

Learning and practicing monthly breast self-exam is an important step that you can take to protect your health. Starting monthly breast self-exam as soon as you begin to menstruate will help to make it a lifelong habit. Breast cancer sounds very scary, but when detected early most breast cancers have a survival rate of over 90 percent.

Breast Cancer symptoms vary widely – from Lumps to Swelling to skin changes – and many breast cancers have not obvious symptoms at all. Symptoms that are similar to those of Breast Cancer may be the result of non-cancerous conditions like infection or a cyst also.
Many of the breast cancers are diagnosed much earlier than they can produce any symptoms. Routine use of mammogram helps women to identify the breast cancer long before it can cause any symptoms. In the early stages breast cancer may be asymptomatic and women may notice only a breast lump. As the breast cancer progresses the cancer cells can invade in to the surrounding normal structures and other distant organs and this may lead to development of symptoms. Any one or more of the following may occur during various stages of progression of breast cancer.

* A lump (mass) in the breast, these lumps are most commonly painless (or as a matter of fact any other part of the body)
* Swelling or thickness of the breast
* Redness, swelling and or pain in the breast
* Lump in the arm pit area due to the spread of breast cancer to the lymph nodes in that area
* New mole or an obvious change in the appearance of an existing wart or mole
* Areas of warmth or redness in the breast
* Development of asymmetry of the breast
* Inversion or changes in the appearance of the nipple
* Flattening or indentation on the skin of the breast. This may indicate a change in the underlying structures.
* Scaling or redness or a change of color or texture of the skin of the breast or Areola (such as dimpling, puckering, or scaliness)
* Unusual dimpling in the breast which may indicate adhesion to underlying structures
* Discharge from the breast or nipple. This can be clear, dark or bloody in nature.
* Burning, itching or scaling of nipples.
* Pain or tenderness in the breast or underarm area. If this does not relive over time possibility of breast cancer should be considered
* Infection or inflammation of breast
* Development of breast abscess
* Bone pain may occur during the late stages of breast cancer due to involvement of bone
* Change in the mental status, seizure, and neurological events can occur in the late stage of the disease due to involvement of brain or spinal cord
* Jaundice may occur in the later stages of breast cancer due to the involvement of liver or surrounding structures.
* Chest pain and difficulty in breathing may occur in the late stages of the disease due to involvement of lung and surrounding structures.

Any changes in the breast should be reported to a doctor without delay. Symptoms can be caused by cancer or by a number of less serious conditions. Early diagnosis is especially important for breast cancer because the disease responds best to treatment before it has spread. The earlier breast cancer is found and treated, the better a woman's chance for complete recovery ! -

Answer 2

Your biggest problem is your age.

They cannot properly examine you breast. Machines need you to be older for your breast to be in a state it can map out. This is why some places would require you to be 40 (even 50 on REALLY OLD machines) for a breast examine. They have been working on newer machines that can better read even sooner, but as it stands you are much too young to get ANY help >.<

They have been finding cancer in 20-somethings,.. it is POSIBLE to have Breast Cancer in your Teens. The problem is they can't see it or prove it. The only way they could would be to cut out a piece of the tissue in which you are concerned. This would require your parents and you to hound down Doctors WILLING to do this.

The good news is it is COMMON for Teens, 20-somethings, and 30-somethings to get temporary and moving masses in their Breast that fade away or balance out their consistancy.

What you MAY want to do is see if you can locate a Doctor with a Mamegram Machine and ask them to Examine you ( please select someone female because of your age). You can have them take notes in your files and check again on a scedual. This way if there is any concern and the mass is growing or not changeing for the positive.. then there will be some medical evidence. This may help to figure out what is really happening and could posibly prove to be nothing and put your mind to ease.

Answer 3

Breast cancer is rare in younger women like you. It takes about 10 years to develop breast cancer and is typically due to an infection along with low fat, high carb diets.

To keep yourself from becoming a statistic like most Americans are doomed to suffer, become educated on nutrition. It's not easy because there is a lot of bad information going around everywhere. Lots of pretty packages with junk inside.

Your chances now of getting breast cancer is 1 in 7 and if the trend continues as it seems to be doing, those odds will get worse. Most of the problems regarding breast cancer is the misinformation on fats and what fats are good and bad.

You should have a doctor check out the lump in your breast. It's most likely a benign cyst, but you need to know what it is to be able to decide what to do about it. The chances of it being malignant would be very remote.

Answer 4

You are very young, so your chances are slim. Breasts have a lot of fatty, lumpy material in them to start out with, so you are probably fine.

With that being said, make sure you go to the doctor. If you have never been to a gynecologist, now might be the time to start your annual visits. But you can go in knowing that you are just being cautious and responsible in your decision to make sure you are not having any problems.

Answer 5

At your age this could be normal. Its a maturity thing and should go away after a few months. That is if the lump is directly under the nipple. If its anywhere else get a check up.

Answer 6

At your age it isn't likely.
There are lots of conditions that can cause harmless breast lumps or what appear to be lumps. Get it checked out, though, just to be on the safe side.

Answer 7

Definitely go to the doctor...then get a recording that I used called breast health....i swear it totally changed what i was feeling in my breast to nothing...like it dissolved. It's from a company that was written up in a health rag called independent achievement Productions and really helps to change your subconscious towards more positive thoughts on your breasts.

Answer 8

At your age, it is most likely a cyst. But DO NOT TAKE ANY CHANCES. Go to a doctor.