Myth: If you detect a painful lump in your breast, there is no need for concern, as it is not cancerous.

Pain is very rarely the only indication of breast cancer. However only 10 percent of breast cancers are linked with pain. If an individual complains of pain in the breast and a self-examination test and a mammogram do not show any abnormality the likelihood of breast cancer is minimal.

Myth: Radiation therapy is a painful process.

A few patients experience a slight tingling or warming sensation in the particular area that is being treated but there is no pain. Prolonged radiation therapy may cause the breast to have a burning sensation, to become dry, to become sore and itchy.

Myth: One in every eight women will get breast cancer.

These statistics are based over an individual's lifetime up to an age of eighty five or ninety five and not on a per year estimate. If you take into account at any given point one woman in every eight women, it does not mean that she will have breast cancer. What it means is that if all women were to live up to an age of 85 years, one woman out of eight would get the disease during her life. Studies have shown that this rate is quickly rising, as thirty years ago it was one woman in every twenty women.

Myth: Women with small breasts will not get cancer.

Breast size is not a significant risk factor for breast cancer. A woman having smaller breasts will have smaller amount of breast tissue, but this does not mean that she will not be able to develop the disease.

Myth: If you are diagnosed with breast cancer and you have a positive outlook on life it will prolong your life.

There is no such evidence to prove that having a positive outlook on life will increase your chances of survival if you are having breast cancer. Of course thinking positive will help you and your family members to cope better with the situation, but then again feeling sad or depressed from time to time is only natural in the light of things.

Myth: Mastectomy or removal of the breast that is affected ensures the elimination of breast cancer forever.

Mastectomy does not in any way ensure that the cancer will not recur. Sometimes even though mastectomy has been performed, the chances are there that the cancer may have spread to other parts of the body and to the lymph nodes. Some individuals who have undergone mastectomy also undergo removal of the lymph nodes in the underarm as a precautionary method.

Myth: The chances are you will not get breast cancer if it doesn't run in your family.

This is not the case, every woman is at risk. Studies have shown that 80 percent of women who end up with breast cancer have never had a family history of it. The ageing process is the single biggest risk factor of breast cancer. Women with a family history of breast cancer, the chances that you might get the disease may be a little elevated or may be a lot elevated or sometimes not at all.

Myth: Coffee drinkers have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

This is not so, in fact research has shown that coffee may actually prevent cancer. It was once believed that caffeine which is present in coffee caused a fibrocystic breast condition, a non cancerous condition which has symptoms of tenderness, pain, lumpiness and cysts in the breasts.

Myth: Nausea and vomiting occurs when you undergo radiation therapy.

Nausea and vomiting does not occur when you undergo radiation therapy for breast cancer.

Myth: Breast cancer is always expressed in the form of a lump.

Whilst a lump in the breast is a certain sign of breast cancer, not all individuals who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a lump that is noticeable. It is very important therefore, for every woman over the age of 40 years to perform a monthly breast self-examination and while doing so check for the following:

If there is any swelling or thickening of the breast.

If there are any hard knots or new lumps in the armpit or breast.

If there is any change in the symmetry, size or shape of the breast.

If there is any thickening or any lump that does not reduce after the next period.

If there is any scaliness or redness of the breast skin or nipple.

If there is a nipple discharge especially if it is a spontaneous discharge, is clear and sticky, bloody or dark.

If there is any indention, puckering or dimpling in the breast.

If there is any skin irritation, dimpling or any other change in the skin of the breast or nipple. If there is any pain or tenderness in the nipple.

If the nipple is pointing in a new direction or drawing or turning inward.

Or any other change in the breast which may be a cause for concern.

If any of the above changes do occur it is best that a clinical examination is done. However, having any of theses changes does not necessarily mean that the individual has breast cancer. Some individuals also develop breast cancer without any symptoms and it can only be detected by a mammogram. Therefore it is recommended that a mammogram be carried out every year for woman 40 years and above as early detection is the key to successful treatment and survival.

Myth: A woman diagnosed with breast cancer will eventually lose her breast.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer will at sometime have to undergo surgery, which is part of the treatment. The treatment would generally depend on how far the cancer has spread. If the cancer is detected in the early stages Lumpectomy, which is the removal of the lump and surrounding amount of normal tissue followed by radiation therapy is the most common type of treatment today. Some may have to undergo mastectomy, which is the removal of the affected breast. Drugs, that is, anticancer drugs are also used to shrink the size of the breast tumor in order that the patient would only have to undergo lumpectomy instead of mastectomy. It all depends on the individual case and what treatment is best for them.