Breast pain alone has no link with cancer

Breast pain or mastalgia is a common problem in women of all ages. About a third of patients attending the clinic present with this symptom. This poses a enormous challenge to the healthcare system.

Let’s look into why patients are concerned about this symptom, it’s the worry what it may mean and possible link to cancer.

It’s well known that only 1% of breast cancer presents with pain however this has failed to calm nerves. As a part of Manchester University Hospital team we examined this crucial question and carried out a detailed study. We found patients presenting with breast pain alone above the age of 40 over an one year period (nearly 12,000 patients were part of the study) less than 1% had breast cancer and some didn’t have it on the side of the symptom.

We hope this kick-starts a national debate about how best to look after the concerns of these patients without increasing the wait for patients who have a higher risk of a cancer diagnosis.

We don’t want see patients with breast pain neglected but appropriately looked after in a different way.

#breastcancer , #breastcancerawareness , #cancercure , #cancerspecialist , #breastcancerhelp