Breast Disease » How is Breast Cancer Diagnosed?
Breast Cancer is often found as a painless lump. Other symptoms may include:
Doctors often refer to the Triple Test to find the cause of breast changes. The Triple Test includes:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women. In New Zealand 2,600 new cases are diagnosed annually and 600 women die from the disease. Just over 20 men are diagnosed each year. In New Zealand, the average risk for a woman being diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in her life is 11% or 1 in 9. This also means there is an 89% chance of never developing breast cancer.
Mammographic screening (for women without symptoms) may detect breast changes before they can be felt. Increasingly breast cancers are being found through breast screening (mammography) before they are large enough to be felt.