Optimal time to check breasts for cancer is shortly after period

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Women should regularly check their breasts for lumps and other signs of cancer, and the best time to conduct the self examination is just after their period.

"About 80 per cent of breast tumours are found by women themselves," the Mainz-based gynaecologist Werner Harlfinger told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview.

In order to detect fast-growing carcinomas early, a self examination is recommended once a month.

"That can't replace an examination by a doctor or a mammogram, but it is a good way to supplement those tests," said Harlfinger, who is also chairman of the association of gynaecologists in Rhineland- Pfalz.

To examine themselves, women should lie on their back and put one arm over or behind their head, said Harlfinger. Using three or four fingers, they should examine their breast working from the outside in. A possible sign of breast cancer is a lump or thickening in the breast or a spot where the breast skin or nipple skin is drawn in. Redness and discharge from the nipple are other warning signs.

Women who notice any of these signs should make an appointment with their gynaecologist and have the changes in their breasts examined, Harlfinger said. The doctor can first examine the breasts using ultrasound and if he or she suspects cancer, prescribe a mammogram.

Women over 50 should take advantage of any chance to have a mammogram because they comprise the biggest breast cancer risk group, said the German cancer society based in Frankfurt. The society recently said the test is underutilized.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. In Germany, more than 55,000 women die from it every year. dpa tmn to ah gj pb