The most common thing my elderly patients say is’’ It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t causing me any distress.’’ This small, inconspicuous lump that they noticed in their breast kept on growing. Still they didn’t pay any attention to it. Somewhere along the line, they show it to someone, and that someone, then brings them to me.

Most of the time, it is cancer. The lump which didn’t hurt, the one which was silent was sitting there slowly growing in size and spreading. One can cure the disease now, most of the time. Sometimes, we can’t. The point is that results are always better if we treat it early. The chances of cure are very high. The larger it becomes, it is more difficult to treat.

All hope is not lost though, and with recent advances many patients get cured. But the point still remains that the lump in your breast needs to be seen by a specialist. It does not matter if it is big or small. It does not matter if it is not painful or appears inconspicuous. All ladies should go and visit their doctor as soon as they feel a lump in their breast. That is the only way to fight breast cancer.