Symptoms Of Breast Cancer Must Be Recognized Early

JAKARTA - The surgeon specialist from Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan, Dr. Esther Felicita Tambayong SpB, asked the public to recognize the symptoms of breast cancer early and not to ignore the symptoms.

"Symptoms of breast cancer that lead to malignancy can be in the form of lumps that are irregular in shape and most of the lumps are painless," said Esther in a written statement in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Sunday, February 13.

She added that these symptoms are followed by a change in the color of the breast skin in patients, even if the skin condition is severe, such as orange peel accompanied by smelly sores on the skin of the breast.

"And the injuries experienced occurred without cause and were difficult to heal," she added.

She also explained that some of the symptoms of breast cancer were also found to occur with the condition of the nipple being pulled inward and the shape of the breast being asymmetrical with one another.

The first step that can be taken to find out the symptoms of breast cancer is to do a self-examination.

The best conditions are one week after the first day of menstruation because at that time the breasts are at their softest.

"With the condition after the first day of menstruation, we can check the condition of the breasts whether there are lumps or not. Then we can check by lifting one hand by holding the back of the head, then one of the other hands touches the breast using three fingers at the end," she clarified.

First do it by pressing from the bottom up, and then giving emphasis by turning, then pressing from the middle to the left and right sides.

Do this while in the shower because it can make it easier when pressing with wet conditions and exposed to soap.

Other tests can also be done by squeezing the nipples to determine if there is fluid that comes out in the form of blood or reddish in color.

Detection in the armpit also needs to be done. "Do an examination in the armpit whether there is a lump which is a lump that accompanies the malignancy of breast cancer," she said.

"But please also note that every lump in the breast does not mean cancer, lumps in the breast are divided into benign lumps, which are mostly experienced at a young age," she continued.

The presence of a malignant lump is usually experienced in women over the age of 40 years. Although there are still cases that occur under the age of 40 years.

"So you don't have to worry as long as you continue to do regular self-examinations on your breasts in the ways described previously," she concluded.

Malignancy of breast cancer is closely related to exposure to the hormone estrogen, which begins in women having their first period.

Women who are at higher risk of developing breast cancer are women who have no children or have children over the age of 30 years, have taken hormonal birth control drugs for more than 5 years, have close relatives who have had breast cancer or cancer in other organs.

Breast cancer can also occur in men but the cases are not as many as in women because the breast glands in men do not develop as much as the growth of the breast glands in women.

Surgeon specialist from Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan, Dr. Esther Felicita Tambayong SpB. (ANTARA/Personal Documentation)