ABSTRACT
The features of a lump that should make people strongly suspect cancer are a discrete, hard lump with fixation, with or without associated lymph nodes. Patients have both a legal and ethical right to determine what happens to them and their bodies, and valid consent is needed before any intervention. It is important to remember that patients can give consent non-verbally, orally, or in writing. It is vital to have a good working knowledge of consent in medicine. When an adult patient lacks the mental capacity to give or withhold consent, no one else can give consent on their behalf. Triple assessment of a breast lesion consists of physical examination, imaging, and sampling of the lump for cytological and/or histological assessment. It is always difficult to break bad news to a patient, since it means telling them something that they don’t want to hear.
