I am incharge of clipping the subscribed newspaper when it arrives in the office on weekdays.  After my boss reads it, i took the time to read it later in the afternoon.  I am one of those persons that reads from the back first to the front except when there’s an eyecatching  line in the front page.

What i love reading from the back page is i can scan through the newspaper content with a lazy pace.  AT times i realized that i get to read the whole thing.

Yesterday, the section of WHAT’s UP DOC? caught my attention – Warning signs of breast and cervical cancer.  Wow!  That’s about women and am one of those women this article is written for.

After reading through i then said to myself, i should share this article in my blog. So, this is it:

An article by Dr. Tranquilino Elicaño Jr.

The warning signs and symptoms of breast cancer are:  A breast lump in majority of cases which is usually painless and may be associated with a blood-stained nipple discharge, although some patients detected by screening are likely to present no symptoms.

In some cases, patients already present enlargement of the lymph nodes in the axilla for example, wihch is already a symptom of spread of the cancer.  The breast lump at the start is usually painless nor tender.  It is well defind and most likely located in the upper outer quadrant of the breast.

The skin over the mass may be dimpled or frankly invaded by the cancer leading to reddening, induration and nodular irregularity.  Fixation to the skin or chest wall will limit mobility of the lump and the examining physician should pay attention to this during physical examination of the patient…The mobility of the enlarged node should be assessed in order to clinically assess the staging of the cancer.  The same holds true as far as enlarged lymph nodes in the supraclavicular area.

Enlargement of the liver is a bad sign indicating spread of the breast cancer.  Signs of the lung collapse, consolidation or fluid in the lungs may suggest pulmonary or pleural metastases.  Spread to the bones can appear in any part of the patient and are most seen in the thoracic and lumbar spine and may lead to tenderness when pressure is applied to the affected vertebrae.

Signs and symptoms for cancer of the cervix are:   Vaginal bleeding, particularly after sexual intercourse; abnormal vaginal discharge; local pain if there is extensive spread to the pelvis; renal failure when there is bilateral uteric obstruction; and other symptoms of local spread may include blood in the urine or rectal bleeding.

When the cancer spreads to the pelvic and para-aortic nodes, pain will be felt at the low back area as well as the sacral area (lower part of the pelvic bone).

General symptoms of malignancy include nausea, vomitting, loss of appetite and weight loss.  Pelvic examination by the attending physician is necesary in order to determine whether the cancer is necessary in order to determine whether the cancer is proliferative, ulcertaive or infiltrive.  It is important to note on examination if the cancer has already spread since this will help in the selection of treatment.

source: Philippine Star/July 26. 2010