swollen lymph node or cancer?

[sperloff]

I am waiting for my breast biopsy by a breast surgeon which will be done in a week, but in the mean time, I have been reading all I can on breast cancer.  My gyno felt the two lumps in my left breast which I called to his attention, and he said they are probably swollen lymph nodes.  If they are only swollen lymph nodes, they have been swollen for at least three months.  Should I worry?  I couldn't find any information about swollen lymph nodes in the breast, and any info found on swollen nodes at all seemed to link to infection or cancer of the lymph nodes.  



Thanks for any info given.  



-Sharon

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear Sharon, You are doing what is appropriate by having the lumps evaluated by a breast surgeon, and the biopsy will give you a more definite answer as to what these are. They could very well be non-cancerous for instance a cyst.    



The lymphatic system is a network of vessels (like blood capillaries) throughout the body, that collect waste from cells within the tissue then the waste is moved through the vessels and filtered through lymph nodes.  The lymph nodes surround the breast more than being actually located within the breast tissue.