Breast cancer is sometimes found after symptoms appear, but many women & men with breast cancer have no symptoms. This is why regular breast cancer screening is so important.
The average risk of a woman in the US developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women, with the median age being 62. A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45.
The most common symptom of breast cancer is a lump, mass, or swelling in the breast tissue. Other symptoms include swelling in the lymph nodes, changes in size or shape of the breast or the nipple, and cloudy or bloody discharge from the nipple.