For decades, the medical community and the media have waged an effective awareness campaign about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, educating the public about the importance of diligently monitoring their breasts for lumps.

That tactic has worked. Early detection of breast cancer has contributed to a 39 percent decline in breast cancer deaths in women from 1992 to 2020, according to the National Cancer Institute. While that’s an important step forward, many other abnormalities that may also indicate breast cancer are lesser known and discussed. Some, then, may be led to assume that no lump and no tumor mean no cancer, but that may be a dangerous conclusion to draw.

Visual breast cancer signs

When most people think about breast cancer symptoms, they think of breast lumps. But doctors say visual changes may be especially key in helping detect breast cancer early. Patients may notice some of these changes just by changing the way they look at their reflections in the mirror, says Cynthia Lynch, MD, Medical Oncologist at City of Hope Phoenix.