The presence of a lump, change in the breast contour or nipple discharge could prompt questions not so easy to dismiss. The knowledge of what to look for can help take a significant step forward concerning breast health. Not all changes in the breasts mean a problem, still, learning more about unusual symptoms may help women to make an informed decision on their condition.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2026 takes place in October to bring attention to preventing and detecting breast cancer, treatment, and screenings. Moreover, this is an excellent opportunity to dispel any myths about breast cancer and encourage women to undergo regular health check-ups.

Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a world-renowned surgical oncologist in India, stresses the importance of recognizing changes in the breast and consulting a doctor regarding them. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the more opportunities patients have to start treatment and improve outcomes – making awareness an important part of breast cancer care.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, signs to recognize, risk factors, screenings, prevention strategies, and necessary steps for those having breast lumps.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Month is observed all over the world in the month of October. The campaign highlights the impact of breast cancer on individuals and their families, as well as promotes education, screening, research and access to appropriate treatment.

It aims at:

* Promoting early detection: Educating women on how to identify changes in their breasts.

* Improving screening awareness: Helping people understand when mammography or other investigations may be appropriate.

* Correcting misconceptions: Addressing myths that may prevent people from seeking care.

* Helping patients: Educating people on the problems faced by breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer affects women across different age groups, although the risk generally increases with age. Awareness is valuable throughout the year, not only during October.

Which breast changes deserve attention? Let’s identify the warning signs that should be medically evaluated.

Breast cancer does not always cause pain or an obvious lump. Some changes may be subtle, making familiarity with your usual breast appearance and feel particularly helpful.

Look out for:

“These symptoms can have non-cancerous causes, too. However, persistent or unusual changes should be assessed rather than dismissed,” advises Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a leading oncologist in Bangalore.

Does everyone have the same level of risk? Let’s look at the factors that may increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

Several factors influence breast cancer risk. The presence of a risk factor does not always result in breast cancer. Even patients who do not have any known risk factors are likely to develop this disease.

Some important things are as follows:

A person with a family history or inherited risk of breast cancer can get individualised screening. Consult a doctor for that purpose.

Does finding a lump automatically mean cancer? Let’s walk through the steps doctors use to investigate a breast lump.

Discovering a lump can be worrying, but many breast lumps are benign. The important step is to establish the cause through appropriate medical assessment.

A typical evaluation may involve:

Not every lump requires a biopsy, but imaging alone may not always provide a definitive diagnosis. The recommended investigations depend on the findings.

Can everyday choices help lower breast cancer risk? Let’s explore practical steps that support long-term breast health.

Not every form of breast cancer can be prevented through one strategy. However, there are certain ways that you can employ to reduce the risk of developing this type of cancer.

Although breast self-awareness is useful, it cannot replace screening. There are some forms of breast cancer that mammograms may help to detect even before any symptoms arise, while ultrasound and MRI may be advised in particular circumstances.

Are common beliefs about breast cancer always accurate? Let’s separate misconceptions from established medical facts.

Myth: Every breast lump is cancer.

Fact: Many breast lumps are benign, but any new or unusual lump should be evaluated.

Myth: Breast cancer only affects older women.

Fact: Risk increases with age, but younger women can also develop breast cancer.

Myth: No family history means no breast cancer risk.

Fact: Breast cancer can occur even without a known family history.

Understanding these facts can help people seek appropriate care without unnecessary fear or false reassurance.

Breast cancer awareness becomes more impactful when information leads to action. This can be done through:

Do not spread misleading information on prevention, screening, or treatments. Reliable information makes healthier health care decisions possible.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2026 is a wake-up call to be vigilant about breast health, to be aware of any abnormal developments, and to know one’s risks. While most breast problems are harmless, it is advisable to have an evaluation done to find out if there is a need for treatment.

Dr. Sandeep Nayak is a specialist in cancer treatment who pays attention to proper diagnosis and personalized treatment plans. Patients interested in breast cancer treatment in Bangalore may turn to a professional to get an idea about the appropriate diagnosis and treatment methods.

Ask a newly diagnosed patient what is troubling them and one question comes up early: oncology vs surgery, which one do I need? It is a fair question, but it is not a contest. Oncology is the whole subject of cancer care. Surgery is one of the things it uses. What separates them is reach: drugs go round in the blood and find cancer cells wherever they are hiding, while surgery works on one spot, the solid tumour and a little healthy tissue around it. The surgical oncologist sits where the two meet, and that is why oncology and surgical oncology get talked about together.

According to Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a surgical oncologist in Bangalore, nobody is really asked to pick between the two. Many solid tumours need both at some point. What changes from case to case is the sequence, and the cancer type, the stage and the patient’s fitness for surgery decide it.

Oncology is the field. Surgery is one tool inside it. At a cancer centre they sit side by side in one team of oncologists.

• Oncology: All of cancer care, from the first scan to the last follow-up visit. It has three main arms: medical, radiation and surgical.
• Medical oncology: The drug arm. Chemotherapy, targeted tablets, immunotherapy and hormone treatment go round in the blood, so they reach the main tumour, the lymph nodes and any organ it may have spread to, in one go.
• Surgery: The operating arm. The surgeon takes the tumour out from where it started, with a rim of normal tissue and the lymph nodes next to it.
• Radiation oncology: Beams of radiation aimed at one area. Local, like surgery, but with no incision.
• Why both exist: A drug can reach cells that scans can’t see, but it can’t take out a solid lump. Surgery gets the lump out, but a cell that has already moved on is beyond its reach.

A surgical oncologist is a surgeon who looks at cancer cases day in and day out. The job is bigger than the operation, and surgical oncology takes in the steps before and after it too.

• Biopsy: First, a piece of the tumour has to be taken out and looked at under a microscope. Quite often the surgeon does this, with a needle, an endoscope or a small cut.
• Staging: Once the scans and biopsy are in, the cancer gets a stage. The TNM system looks at three things: how big the tumour is, whether the nodes are involved, and whether it has spread. Every later decision leans on this.
• The operation: The surgeon wants a clear margin, which means healthy tissue all round the tumour, and the nearby lymph nodes out as well. Leaving cancer behind weakens the benefit of everything that follows.
• Function: Where it can be done, speech, swallowing and bowel or bladder function are kept safe, and what had to be removed is rebuilt.
• Relief of symptoms: Sometimes the cancer can’t be removed fully. An operation can still open a blocked bowel or stop a bleed, and the patient feels better for it.

Rectal cancer surgery can be done robotically, laparoscopically or through an open incision, and the right choice turns on where the tumour sits, how narrow the pelvis is and what kind of recovery the patient is aiming for. All three can cure the cancer in experienced hands, which is why the decision is about what fits the individual patient and not about which technology is newest.

According to Prof. Dr. Sandeep Nayak, Surgical Oncologist at  Clinic, Bangalore, explains how the three approaches are weighed in rectal cancer surgery. “Patients often come asking which of the three is best. The rectum is hard to reach, down in a narrow pelvis, so how we operate matters a little more here than in other cancers. Whatever the route, the plan is the same: take the whole tumour out, save the nerves and the sphincter if the cancer allows it, and get the patient back on their feet. If one route does that better for you, that’s the one we use.”

The aim is the same in all three. What changes is how the surgeon gets down to a tumour sitting low in the pelvis.

Open surgery: One longer cut in the abdomen. The surgeon can put their hands in and see the area directly.

Laparoscopic surgery: Several short cuts take its place. A camera and thin instruments go through them, and the surgeon works by hand while watching a monitor.

Robotic surgery: The cuts are small here too. The surgeon sits at a console a few feet from the patient, the screen is magnified and in 3D, and the instrument tips can turn in ways a straight laparoscopic instrument can’t. The robot decides nothing. Every movement is the surgeon’s own.

What stays constant: In all three, the central step is total mesorectal excision, where the rectum comes out together with the fat and lymph nodes around it as a single package. How cleanly that is done matters more than which instrument did it. Our page on robotic cancer surgery explains how the system works.

For laparoscopic surgery, the evidence is reasonably firm.

The COLOR II trial: Roughly a thousand patients were randomly placed into laparoscopic or open surgery groups. Three years later the cancer had returned in the pelvis in 5% of each group, and survival was close.

Recovery: People who had keyhole surgery tended to bleed less, have less pain and go home sooner.

A caution: Rectal surgery by keyhole is demanding, and the trial results came from surgeons who did it regularly.

For a wider look across other cancers, see our blog on whether minimally invasive cancer surgery gives the same cure rate as open surgery.

Compared with open esophagectomy, the minimally invasive route puts the body through less surgical trauma. Blood loss is lower and lung complications are fewer, especially in the weeks right after the operation. Long-term cancer outcomes in the trials so far are comparable, so the decision comes down to the tumour, the patient’s overall health and how experienced the surgeon is with the technique.

According to Prof. Dr. Sandeep Nayak, Surgical Oncologist at MACS Clinic, Bangalore, explains how the two approaches compare for cancers of the food pipe. “It’s a big operation however you do it. What the keyhole route changes is the chest wall, which isn’t cut open, and you see that in the first few weeks, with fewer chest infections and an easier recovery. None of that counts if the cancer isn’t cleared as well, so that’s the first thing we make sure of.”

Both operations do the same job. The diseased part of the food pipe comes out, and what’s left gets joined to the stomach. How the surgeon reaches it is what differs.

Open: Big cuts, one in the chest and one in the abdomen. The surgeon works through them by hand.

Keyhole: A few small cuts instead. A camera and long, thin instruments go in through openings in the chest and belly.

Hybrid: Part keyhole, part open. Some surgeons do the abdomen by keyhole and the chest the open way.

Robotic: The same small cuts, with a robot holding the instruments and giving the surgeon a magnified 3D view.

What doesn’t change: The tumour and the nearby lymph nodes come out whichever route is used. The stomach is shaped into a tube and lifted up to take the place of the food pipe. If you’re curious how keyhole operations work in general, our page on laparoscopic cancer surgery explains it.

Keyhole isn’t for everyone.

Large or invasive tumours: A tumour pressing on nearby structures can call for the room and control that open surgery gives.

Earlier surgery: Scarring from a previous chest or abdominal operation can make keyhole surgery harder to do safely.

Changing course: Sometimes the surgeon starts with keyhole and moves to open because carrying on isn’t safe. That’s judgement, not a failed operation.

Experience: It’s a demanding operation to do by keyhole, and results are best where the team does it regularly. You can read about the surgeon’s background on our expertise page.

Most patients ask the same thing when surgery is advised for stomach cancer: how much of my stomach will be taken out? Put simply, there are two answers. Either all of it (total gastrectomy) or a part of it, usually the lower part (subtotal gastrectomy). Which one you get depends mostly on where the tumour is, how big it is and how it’s behaving. Doctors would rather save some stomach, because it helps with eating and nutrition later. But removing all the cancer always comes first. This is how total vs subtotal gastrectomy is decided.

According to Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a surgical oncologist in Bangalore, says you can’t name the exact operation from a diagnosis alone. The endoscopy, CT scan and biopsy come first, and even then the plan can still change during surgery, if the cut edge shows cancer.

Surgery is a big part of stomach cancer treatment. Here is what each operation actually takes out.

• Total gastrectomy: Here the whole stomach goes, top to bottom, cardia and pylorus included. The food pipe is joined directly to the small intestine.
• Subtotal gastrectomy: A good part of the lower stomach is taken out together with the pylorus. What remains, a small upper pouch, is joined to the intestine.
• Lymph nodes: Neither operation is only about the stomach. The glands lying along its curves are cleared as well, since that is where the disease tends to travel first.
• Reconstruction: The intestine has to be reconnected after the stomach is out, otherwise food has nowhere to go. How? That depends on how much stomach is left.
• Proximal gastrectomy: Ever heard of a proximal gastrectomy? Only the upper stomach is removed. It is rare. Only a few early tumours high up are suitable for it.

What does the oncology team look at? A few things, and always together.

• Tumour location: Low in the stomach? Then a subtotal gastrectomy is often possible. Middle or upper stomach? You’re more likely to need a total gastrectomy.
• A clear margin: The cut edge must be free of cancer. If a clear margin cannot be reached by removing only the lower stomach, the surgeon moves to a total gastrectomy. A frozen section, reported while you are still on the table, is sometimes sent to check.
• Size and depth: Big tumours need a wider cut, and so do tumours that have grown deep into the wall. Sometimes that leaves too little healthy stomach worth keeping.
• Pattern of spread: Some cancers, the diffuse type for instance, spread along the stomach wall. What you see on the surface may not show how far they have gone. So a larger resection may be needed.
• Nearby organs: If the tumour has reached the pancreas and surgery needs to remove part of it along with the spleen, a total gastrectomy is advised, wherever the tumour began.

When cancer spreads to the peritoneum, the lining of the abdomen, the surgical team needs an objective way to measure it. The peritoneal cancer index (PCI) does that by scoring how much disease is present and how widely it has spread. It is one of the first things assessed when deciding whether cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC is a realistic option, though it is never the only factor.

According to Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a surgical oncologist in Bangalore, the number alone doesn’t settle anything. The scans, the type of cancer, how fit the patient is and what can actually be removed all go into the decision, and the final score is often confirmed only once the surgeon looks inside.

Before anyone talks about HIPEC treatment, the first question is how far the disease has gone. The PCI is how that gets answered.

Thirteen regions: The surgeon divides the abdomen into 13 areas. Nine cover the abdomen and pelvis, and four cover the small bowel.

Lesion size score: Each area gets a score from 0 to 3, based on the biggest tumour deposit in it. Zero means nothing visible. A 3 means deposits bigger than 5 cm, or disease that has joined up into one sheet.

Total score: Add the 13 scores together and you land somewhere between 0 and 39. More disease, higher number.

How it’s measured: A scan gives you an estimate. The most reliable PCI is the one the surgeon sees with their own eyes at the start of the operation.

Completeness score: Once the surgery is done, a separate CC score records how much disease was left behind. The aim is CC-0 or CC-1.

No single number decides this. The oncology team looks at several things together.

Where the cancer began: Cancers of the appendix, colon, ovary and the peritoneum itself are the usual ones considered. Stomach cancer comes into it in selected cases.

The PCI range: In colon and rectal cancer, a PCI above about 20 is usually seen as too high for surgery. Other cancers use different cut-offs, and in ovarian cancer the PCI isn’t a fixed rule.

Can it all come out? This is the real question. Can the surgeon remove all the visible disease and finish with a CC-0 or CC-1 result? If not, the operation usually doesn’t go ahead.

Fitness: It’s a long, major operation. How active you are day to day matters, and so do your heart, lungs, kidneys and liver.

Spread outside the abdomen: Disease that stays within the peritoneum is the ideal. Spread to distant organs, or deposits in places that can’t be removed, can rule surgery out even when the PCI is low.