Every October, the world steps up efforts to sensitise the population about breast cancer. Just like any other part of the human body, breasts are exposed to cancers. And it has been proved that one is at a high risk of breast cancer if a family member has had it before.

Breast cancers are of many types and forms, but some present classically as an odd lump, felt only at touch, sometimes not even painful or discomforting. One type would come with skin changes to look like an orange-peel.

The lumps, when felt at a younger age, cause anxiety in many and that feeling is understandable given that breast cancer is the second killer cancer among females in the world after lung cancer. But the two cancers are connected as we will see towards the end of the article.

Those lumps can be of a lower yield in terms of malignancy — or call it the badness, if that applies. They need a thorough examination and more tests.

Do not ever leave it unscreened. I would want to spare you the image details of a breast-bare woman in her late 30s who wears prosthesis or an inflatable bra to keep the head and chest up, just because she might have neglected it.

Men, beware as well because you are not immune to breast cancer, I have seen one or two cases of male breast cancer. Lumps still, are the highlight of the conditions. Palpate yourselves, you just never know.

One of the common things about non-communicable diseases is that they get communicated through genes. That is why you must try to find out who has died of one of those diseases in the family.

If ever you get to know that you have breast cancer, life is not over. There are many people in our community that have been successfully cured of cancer but the key is early detection. Help is there, you might not understand how people would be happy to welcome you and share the journey of hope with you.

Always touch the outer upper part of your breasts and turn either clockwise or the other way but deep enough to detect any lump.

Do not forget the axilla, many cancers have a nasty fashion of spreading around as any bad news; palpate, in the same manner, searching from up to down, right and left for any lump.

As we all know, breasts are on the chest and the chest holds the most vital organs — heart and lungs. This puts the lungs at a risk of developing cancers connected to the breasts.

Dr Achille Manirakiza works with University Teaching Hospital of Kigali