Every year in October, the Pink Ribbon flutters in all corners of the world. Every October is the World Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the third Friday of October is designated as the Pink Ribbon Day, and the Pink Ribbon has become the symbol of the global breast cancer prevention and treatment campaign. “Early prevention, early detection and early treatment” is the aim of the Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, accounting for 7-10% of all malignant tumors in the body. Globally, about 1.2 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and 500,000 women die of breast cancer. Although China is a low incidence country of breast cancer, the incidence rate is increasing, and in recent years, it has been growing at a rate of 3% per year. In China’s big cities, its incidence rate has jumped to the first place of all kinds of female cancers. The high incidence age of breast cancer in China is 40-60 years old, which is about 10-15 years earlier than the high incidence age in western countries, seriously jeopardizing women’s health. Then, what are the common symptoms of breast cancer? 1.Breast Lump: It is the most common manifestation of breast cancer. Most of the lumps are located in the upper outer quadrant, followed by the inner upper and nipple areola area, and less below. Most of the lumps are single, with unclear boundary, poor mobility, painless and hard texture. 2.Nipple overflow: the incidence of nipple overflow in breast cancer is generally below 10%, and about 12%-25% of bloody overflow is breast cancer. For those who are over 50 years old and have single ductal overflow in one breast, they should be alert to the possibility of breast cancer and go to the hospital for consultation in time. Nipple changes: itching, flaking, erosion, ulceration, crusting and other eczema-like changes of the nipple are often the clinical manifestations of Paget’s disease. Breast skin and outline changes: when breast cancer invades Cooper’s ligament between breast glands and shortens it, it will pull the skin and make the local skin concave, just like a dimple, which is called “dimple sign”. When cancer cells block subcutaneous lymphatic vessels, skin edema may occur, and the skin follicles in the edematous area cannot be swollen and deeply sunken, which makes the edematous skin look like orange peel, and is called “orange peel-like change”. Tumor invades into lymphatic vessels in the skin, small cancer foci can be formed around the tumor, which is called “satellite nodules”. If the nodules are fused into pieces, the skin can become hard and thick, and the skin which is hard and thick becomes a plate resembles the armor worn by the soldiers in ancient times, which is called “pinned-armor-like change”. In advanced stage, the skin can be completely fixed or even broken, showing “cauliflower pattern”, which will not be healed for a long time. Inflammatory breast cancer, the local skin is inflammatory, the color is from light red to deep red, and it is limited at the beginning, but soon it will be expanded to most of the mammary skin, accompanied by skin edema, thickening and roughness of the skin at touching, increased skin temperature, which is similar to gestation and breastfeeding mastitis. 5, lymph node enlargement: if the breast lump has malignant signs, and the axillary and supraclavicular fossa lymph nodes are larger, harder, less mobile, or fused with each other, then it means the possibility of metastasis is large. It is worth noting that occult breast cancer often takes axillary or supraclavicular lymph node enlargement as the first symptom, while the primary lesion in the breast is very small, which is difficult to be touched clinically. Most of the breast cancer patients go to the hospital because they touch the breast lump unintentionally. If breast cancer can be detected in time, diagnosed and treated at an early stage, satisfactory results can be achieved. Therefore, it is very important to develop a good habit of self-examination. Self-examination can detect abnormalities in the breasts in time and consult the doctor in time, so that some breast diseases can be found, especially breast cancer can be detected at an early stage. The best time to check should be 9-11 days after the monthly menstrual period, because at this time the breast is relatively soft, easy to find lesions. Women who have stopped menstruating can choose any day of the month at will for regular checkups. The pressure can range from light to slightly heavy, whichever is not painful. The correct examination technique is to gently touch the breast with closed fingers, not to grasp and pinch, otherwise the normal breast tissue will be easily mistaken for a lump. When touching, the palm of the hand should be stretched out flat, four fingers together, with the most sensitive index finger, middle finger, ring finger of the end of the fingertips in order to gently touch the breast. In front of a mirror, look into the mirror with both hands hanging down at the sides of the body, and then slowly raise both upper limbs above the head to observe the appearance of the breasts, including the contour of the breasts, the presence of a swollen portion, and the presence of a slight concavity of the skin or retraction of the nipple. Next, cross your arms at the waist and observe whether both breasts are symmetrical. Then one side of the fingers together, flat on the breast, with the fingertips gently touch, can be along the clockwise direction, can also be carried out in the counterclockwise direction, first from the inside to the outside, pay attention to do not heavy pressure. Finally squeeze the nipple to see if there is bleeding fluid, or brown, dark red, yellowish fluid, or milk-like fluid. It can also be checked while lying down by placing a pillow or soft object under the shoulder blade. The hand on the same side is then placed behind the head so that the breast tissue is spread more evenly over the chest. The examination begins at the upper outer part of the breast, in a clockwise direction for the right breast and in a counterclockwise direction for the left breast; it starts at the periphery of the breast and progresses centrally to the nipple. Finally, the nipple is gently squeezed between the thumb and forefinger to observe for nipple discharge. If there is an overflow, observe whether it is clear or cloudy, yellowish, milky or bloody. Finally, check the armpits on both sides and pay attention to the presence of enlarged lymph nodes, thus completing the self-examination of the breast. Regular self-examination of the breast is simple and safe. During self-examination, if you find any suspicious signs, you must consult a doctor in time, and you must not think that it is “normal”, and all suspicions should be diagnosed by a breast specialist in the hospital. Self-examination is not a substitute for professional examination, and it is recommended that a specialist’s manual diagnosis be done every six months to a year.