Mastalgia; is this commonly associated with operable breast cancer?

A detailed analysis by questionnaire of breast pain in 460 newly referred patients at a specialized breast clinic revealed that only 1.5% of patients with pain had an early breast cancer. Of all 44 cancers 8 were painful but only 4 considered early. All these had nipple retraction. We conclude that although breast pain is rarely associated with cancer, localized pain must be fully investigated to exclude this diagnosis.