Medical Oncologist
Breast cancer · Noticed a lump
You have noticed a breast lump.Is it cancer?
Most breast lumps are not cancer. But nobody — not you, not a doctor by hand alone — can tell which from the outside. This page explains why, and what actually gives you an answer.
Get a lump checked this week
1800 202 8726Toll free
Most breast lumps turn out not to be cancer. The trouble is that the ones which feel most harmless are exactly the ones women wait on. And waiting is the only part of this you control.
What different lumps tend to feel like
These are the patterns doctors are taught. Read them, then read the bar underneath, because it is the part that matters.
More often harmless
Typical of fibroadenomas, cysts and normal cyclical change.
- Smooth and rounded, with a clear edge you can trace
- Moves under the skin when you press it
- Rubbery or soft rather than hard
- Tender, especially in the days before a period
- Changes with the monthly cycle, or comes and goes
- Present in both breasts, in more than one place
Needs checking sooner
Reasons to be seen without waiting for the next cycle.
- Hard, and firmer than the tissue around it
- Fixed — it does not shift when you press it
- Irregular, with an edge you cannot trace
- Painless, and steadily getting larger
- With skin dimpling, puckering or redness above it
- With a nipple pulled inward, or discharge with blood
The reassuring features are the dangerous ones
Not because they usually mean cancer. Because of what they do to the person who finds them.
A hard, fixed, painful lump frightens people, and frightened people go to a doctor. That fear is doing useful work.
A soft lump that moves, does not hurt and seems to settle after a period does the opposite. It gives permission to wait. Wait until after the wedding, after the harvest, after the school fees are paid. The most common reason a breast cancer is found late in Telangana is not that the lump was hidden. It is that it did not feel like anything worth interrupting life for.
So the useful question is not does this feel like cancer. It is has this been checked. The first question has no reliable answer. The second one takes about a week.
The three steps that actually give you an answer
Called triple assessment. It is the standard worldwide, and most people do not need all three.
Step one
The examination
A specialist examines both breasts and the armpits, and asks how long the lump has been there and whether it has changed. This decides how urgently the next step happens — not whether it happens.
Step two
The scan
An ultrasound, a mammogram, or both, depending on your age. This is where most lumps are resolved — a simple cyst, for instance, can usually be identified on ultrasound alone.
Step three
The needle test
Only if the first two leave a question. A thin needle takes a few cells or a small core of tissue, under local anaesthetic. This is the step that gives a definite answer, and only this step does.
Costs vary by which steps you need and where you have them. Indicative figures are on the cost page. Cover under Rajiv Aarogyasri in Telangana and Dr. NTR Vaidya Seva in Andhra Pradesh depends on your entitlement — bring your card and let the desk check it.
Build a note to take with you
Tick anything you have noticed. You will get a short summary to read out or hand over. It is what a specialist asks about anyway, written down before you are in the room.
What you have noticed
A note, not an assessment. Only an examination and a scan can tell you what the lump is.
Your note
- Always say — when you first noticed it, and what has changed since.
- Also bring — earlier scans and reports, and your medicines.
- Before you leave — ask what happens next, and when.
Talk to our team
Have questions about breast cancer? Speak to a specialist.
Call the helpline or leave your details, and someone will help you arrange a consultation at the CION centre nearest you. One helpline serves every CION centre.
Call 1800 202 8726
Helpline open 24/7
What a lump usually turns out to be
Breast tissue is glandular and responds to hormones all through life, which is why lumps are so common and mostly harmless.
Fibroadenoma
A firm, smooth lump that moves easily under the fingers.
- Typical age
- Late teens to thirties
- Reason
- An overgrowth of normal breast tissue, driven by hormones
Cyst
A sac of fluid. Often tender, and often appears quickly.
- Typical age
- Mid-thirties to menopause
- Reason
- A gland that has filled with fluid and cannot drain
Fibrocystic change
Lumpy, rope-like tissue in both breasts that shifts with the cycle. A pattern, not a disease.
- Typical age
- Twenties to menopause
- Reason
- Normal tissue responding to monthly hormone changes
Infection or abscess
A hot, red, painful swelling. Needs treating, but it is not cancer.
- Typical age
- Any age, most often while breastfeeding
- Reason
- Bacteria entering through the nipple
Fat necrosis
A firm lump that can feel worrying and mimic a tumour on a scan.
- Typical age
- Any age
- Reason
- Healed damage where the breast was knocked, bruised or operated on
Cancer
The minority of lumps, and the reason every lump gets checked rather than guessed at.
- Typical age
- Any age, more common after 40
- Reason
- Cells in a duct or lobule multiplying out of control
What is most likely at your age
In the twenties and thirties, a fibroadenoma or normal cyclical lumpiness leads the list. From the late thirties, cysts become common. After menopause, the balance shifts — hormonal lumpiness settles down, so a new lump after periods have stopped is taken more seriously and investigated faster. Age changes the odds. It never changes the answer for one person.
Which scan will I be offered?
Usually an ultrasound first. Younger breast tissue is dense, which makes a mammogram harder to read and an ultrasound more useful. A mammogram is added only if the ultrasound leaves a question.
A guide to what to expect, not a decision. Your doctor chooses the scan after examining you.
Five reasons to go this week rather than next month
None of these means you have cancer. All of them mean the checking should not wait.
- The lump is growingAnything that is measurably bigger than when you found it should be seen now, whatever it feels like.
- The skin has changedDimpling, puckering, thickening like orange peel, or redness that is not settling.
- The nipple has changedNewly pulled inward, scaly, or with discharge that contains blood.
- A lump in the armpitA firm swelling there deserves the same attention as one in the breast itself.
- It appeared after menopauseOnce periods have stopped, hormonal lumpiness settles. A new lump is investigated faster.
Meet the Specialists
17+ senior cancer specialists. One panel for your case.
Trained at AIIMS, Tata Memorial, and leading international centres. Combined 150+ years of experience. Every complex case is reviewed by 3+ of them — together.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Hematologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
Surgical Oncologist
Want a specific doctor for your case? Mention them when booking.
Book Free ConsultationBook an appointment with our specialist
Share your name and number — we'll call you back within 30 minutes to schedule your consultation.
Where to find us
Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. Each centre also names the areas it serves, so you can place it without a map. Consultation and day-care Chemotherapy run at every one of them.
Warangal
Vizag
Talk to our team
Have questions about breast cancer? Speak to a specialist.
Call the helpline or leave your details, and someone will help you arrange a consultation at the CION centre nearest you. One helpline serves every CION centre.
Call 1800 202 8726
Helpline open 24/7