What do breast symptoms mean?

Breast symptoms of pain, tenderness, and engorgement correlate with objective findings of nodularity on physical examination. Like all other factors for breast disease, they are not a single determinant of diagnosis, as shown by the 3 X 3 contingency table, but they are a useful addition to our understanding. From the available data, symptoms seem as accurate as physical examination for evaluating changes in benign diseases. By extrapolation, we expect they will be useful for management of premalignant breast lesions. We conclude that a complete breast evaluation should include inquiry about breast symptoms and whether these symptoms have changed.