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      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
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      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
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        • Questions to ask
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    • Home
    • Types
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget’s disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Awareness
      • iPrevent
    • Diagnosis
      • Tests
        • Triple test
      • Stages of breast cancer
      • Receiving a diagnosis
      • Diagnosis of early breast cancer
        • What the pathology report means
      • Diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ
        • What the DCIS pathology report means
      • Diagnosis when breast cancer spreads
      • Questions to ask
    • Treatment
      • Treatment team
        • Members of the team
        • Talking with health professionals
        • Questions to ask
      • Deciding about treatment
        • Travelling
        • Pregnancy
        • Tips for making decisions
        • Questions to ask
        • MammaPrint ® (70 gene signature) test
      • Surgery
        • Breast-conserving surgery
        • Mastectomy
        • Surgery to the armpit (axilla)
        • Surgery for metastatic breast cancer
        • Breast reconstruction
        • Choosing a surgeon
        • Questions to ask
        • Care after surgery
      • Radiotherapy
        • Early breast cancer
        • Metastatic breast cancer
        • Questions to ask
        • Skin care
        • Travelling
      • Chemotherapy
        • How does chemotherapy work?
        • Type of chemotherapy
        • What does chemotherapy involve?
        • Side effects
        • Questions to ask
      • Hormonal therapies
        • Hormone receptors
        • Types of hormonal therapy
        • Side effects
        • Menopause and oestrogen production
        • Deciding about hormonal therapies
        • Questions to ask
      • Targeted therapies
        • HER2 receptors
        • Types of targeted therapy
        • Questions to ask
      • Complementary & alternative therapies
        • Complementary therapies
        • Questions to ask
        • Where to find more information
      • Palliative care
        • What is palliative care?
        • Accessing palliative care
        • Questions to ask
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
        • Physical examinations
        • Breast imaging tests
        • Questions to ask
      • Advanced disease
        • When treatment stops
        • Facing the possibility of dying
        • Putting your affairs in order
        • Questions to ask
      • Recurrent and secondary cancer
        • What makes spread more likely
    • Living with
      • Practical aspects of diagnosis
        • Costs of treatment and prostheses
        • Travel schemes
        • Questions to ask
        • Choosing a cancer treatment
      • Physical changes
        • Body image
        • Menopause
        • Fertility
        • Lymphoedema
      • Emotional changes
        • How you might feel
        • Effects on partners
        • Effects on children
        • Effects on family and friends
      • Physical changes – metastatic
        • Pain
        • Symptoms and treatment side effects
      • Emotional changes – metastatic
        • Common feelings
      • Practical aspects - metastatic
        • Work
        • Financial support
        • How to access support at home
        • How to access support outside home
        • Questions to ask
    • Life after
      • Health
        • Fatigue
        • Poor sleep
        • Lymphoedema
        • Menopause
        • Pain
        • Diet
        • Exercise
      • Feelings
        • Finding a new ‘normal’
        • Fear of recurrence
        • Feelings of loss
        • Isolation
        • Anxiety and depression
        • Not sure how you feel?
      • Relationships
        • Partners
        • Children
        • Friends
        • Colleagues
      • Practical issues
        • Returning to work
        • Questions to ask your health fund
    • Support
    • Clinical trials
      • What happens in a clinical trial?
      • What are the phases of a clinical trial?
      • Advantages and disadvantages
      • Questions to ask about clinical trials
      • When to find more information
    • Health professionals
      • Menopausal symptoms
      • Screening
      • Breast cancer diagnosis
      • Early breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Ductal carcinoma
      • Lobular carcinoma
      • GP guides and resources
      • Follow-up care
      • Breast cancer Qstream
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Breast cancer awareness

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Finding breast cancer early provides the best chance of surviving the disease.

Early detection

It’s important for women of all ages to know what they can do to help find breast cancer early. Finding breast cancer early means there are more treatment options and the chances of survival are greatest.

This page provides information about breast awareness, breast changes, risk factors and mammography screening.

For information on breast cancer in men, visit Cancer Australia’s dedicated website, Breast Cancer in Men.

Breast awareness

Breast awareness is important for women of all ages, even if you’re having regular mammograms.

You don’t need to be an expert or use a special technique to check your breasts. Take the time to get to know the normal look and feel of your breasts as part of everyday activities like showering, dressing, putting on body lotion or simply looking in the mirror. Knowing what is normal for you will help you to detect any new breast or nipple changes.

Breast changes to look out for include:

  • a new lump or lumpiness, especially if it's only in one breast
  • a change in the size or shape of the breast
  • a change to the nipple, such as crusting, ulcer, redness or inversion
  • a nipple discharge that occurs without squeezing
  • a change in the skin of the breast such as redness or dimpling
  • an unusual pain that doesn't go away. 

Nine out of ten breast changes aren't due to cancer, but it’s important to see a doctor to be sure. If you find a breast change that is unusual for you, see your GP without delay.

Mammographic screening 

If you are aged 50-74, get your free breast screen done every two years. BreastScreen Australia offers free breast screening for women without symptoms aged 50-74, when screening has the greatest potential to prevent deaths from breast cancer.

Women aged 40-49 and 75 years and older who have no breast cancer symptoms or signs are also eligible for free screening mammograms.

For more details contact BreastScreen on 13 20 50 or visit www.cancerscreening.gov.au.

How can you reduce your chances of getting breast cancer?

As a woman, over the course of your lifetime there are many factors that can influence your risk of breast cancer. While some of the most important of these risk factors, such as being a woman, getting older or having a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer and genetic factors, cannot be changed, you can still aim to reduce risk of breast cancer through making healthy lifestyle choices and other risk-reducing strategies.

You can also improve your chance of better outcomes by being breast aware and knowing what to do about finding breast cancer early.

For more information, visit Cancer Australia’s Breast Cancer Risk Factors website.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

The good news is there are things that you can do to find breast cancer early:

1. Get to know the normal look and feel of your breasts.
2. Have a free breast screen every two years for women aged 50 - 74 years.

Cancer Australia’s Lots to Live For video provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with vital knowledge about the importance of breast awareness and early detection of breast cancer.

Find out more about breast cancer awareness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

For women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

A range of resources have been produced to inform women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds about breast cancer symptoms and the importance of early detection, and to assist women diagnosed with breast cancer in making decisions about their treatment and support.

Breast changes information in other languages can be found here.

Breast cancer resources

  • Find it early and survive video
  • Knowledge is never out of fashion video
  • View a short video about breast changes
  • When the woman you love has early breast cancer
  • When the woman you love has metastatic breast cancer
  • Information for men whose partners have been diagnosed with breast cancer

Find out more about:

  • What causes breast changes?
  • Tests for breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Breast cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Last Updated
  • Relevant Links
updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm
Australian Cancer Trials

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

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