Description

A breast lump is a growth of tissue that forms in the chest. Most breast lumps are not irregular or cancer. But it is key to have your healthcare provider check them as soon as possible.

Symptoms

The breast tissue can typically feel for lumps or filamentous. You may also have tenderness in the breast that comes and goes with your menstrual period.

If you have a health problem that affects your breasts, you may notice changes in the shape of their breasts usually feel. These changes may include:

  • A round, smooth and firm breast lump.
  • A lump that is firm and moves easily under the skin.
  • A hard lump in the breast, with irregular edges.
  • An area of skin that has changed color.
  • The dimpling of the skin, like an orange.
  • New changes in breast size or shape.
  • Loss of fluid from the nipple.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment to have a lump in the breast, check, especially if:

  • The lump is new and feels firm or fixed.
  • The lump does not go away after 4 to 6 weeks. Or has changed in size or in the way that you feel.
  • Observe the changes in the skin over your breast, like a change in the color of the skin, crusting, dimples or wrinkles.
  • The liquid that comes out of the nozzle suddenly on more than one occasion. The fluid may be bloody.
  • The nipple recently turned inward.
  • There is a new lump in the armpit, or a lump in the armpit seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Causes

Breast lumps can be caused by:

  • Breast cysts. These fluid-filled sacs inside the breast is round, smooth and firm. A breast cyst can vary in size from a few millimeters to as large as an orange. The surrounding tissue may be sensitive. A breast cyst can occur before your period and make it smaller, bigger or disappear after. Breast cysts tend to occur rapidly around the time of the menstrual cycle.
  • Fibrocystic breast changes. With these changes, you may feel general of the fullness of your breasts. Some areas may be lumpy or ropelike. Your breasts may feel tender. It is common to have a fibrocystic breast changes related to the menstrual cycle. The symptoms tend to improve after your period.
  • Fibroadenomas. These solid tumors of the breast are not cancer. They are soft, and they move easily under the skin when touched. A fibroadenoma may get smaller over time, or it can grow more. Factors that may be associated with fibroadenoma growth include the fact of being pregnant, the use of hormone therapy, such as birth control pills or having a period.
  • Injury or post-surgery. A serious injury to breast tissue, or a complication after breast surgery can create a lump in the breast. This is called fat necrosis.
  • Infections. A collection of infected fluid called an abscess in the tissue of the breast can also cause a lump in the breast. The lump is often associated with the pain of the breast, redness of the area and the swelling of the skin.
  • Intraductal Papilloma. This is a skin tag-like growth in a milk duct. This can cause the nipple to the loss of clear or bloody fluid. Usually is not painful. This growth can be seen in a ultrasound of the breast of the area under the nipple.
  • Lipoma. This type of tumor may feel soft. Involves fatty breast tissue. It is often harmless.
  • Breast cancer. A breast lump that is painless, hard, has uneven edges, and is different from the breast tissue around it could be breast cancer. The skin covering the tumor may thicken, change of color, or the color red. There may also be changes in the skin, such as dimpled areas that look like the skin of an orange. Your breast size and shape can be changed. You may notice the loss of fluid from the nipple or the nipple can turn inward. The lymph nodes under the arm or near the collarbone may swell.

Consult your health care professional to learn what types of tests you may need, and what kind of lump in the breast that has.

Risk factors

Risk factors for breast tumors caused by conditions that are not cancer include the following:

  • Age. Some conditions that cause breast tumors are more common in the 30's and 40's. These include fibrocystic changes, and fibroadenomas.
  • The menstrual periods. Before or during your period, you can feel a lump in the breast, due to excess fluid in the sinuses.
  • Pregnancy. Your breasts may feel lumpy during pregnancy. That is because the glands that produce milk to grow in number and become larger.
  • Premenopause. As you get closer to menopause, the hormonal changes may make your breasts feel lumpier and tender.

Some risk factors for breast cancer are within your control to change. These include:

  • The consumption of Alcohol. The more alcohol consumed, the greater the risk of breast cancer.
  • Being overweight or obese. The risk of breast cancer increases if you are overweight or obese after menopause.
  • The lack of exercise. If you do not get the physical activity, can make you more likely to get breast cancer.
  • Do not give light. The risk of breast cancer is slightly higher in people who have not had children or who do not have children until after the age of 30 years.
  • Not breastfeeding. The risk of breast cancer may be slightly higher in people who do not breastfeed their babies.
  • Hormonal birth Control. Birth control methods that use hormones to prevent pregnancy may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer. These include birth control pills, injections and intrauterine devices.
  • The hormone therapy. The long-term use of estrogen combined with progesterone can increase the risk of breast cancer.

Other risk factors for cancer in breast tumors could not be controlled. These include:

  • To be born female. Women are much more likely than men to suffer from breast cancer.
  • Aging. The risk of breast cancer increases with age. Most often, tests to find breast cancer in people 55 years of age.
  • The changes in the genes. Some types of breast cancer are caused by gene changes transmitted from parents to children, also called inherited gene changes. A change in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is the most common cause of inherited breast cancer.
  • Family history of breast cancer. You are more likely to develop breast cancer if a close family member, such as a father or brother had the disease.
  • Dense breasts. This means that your breasts have more glandular and fibrous tissue and less fatty tissue. People with dense breast tissue have a higher risk of breast cancer than those whose breast density is average.
  • At the beginning of menstrual periods or after menopause. Starting your period at an early age, especially before 12, is associated with a slightly increased risk of breast cancer. Going through menopause after age 55, is also linked to a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
  • Certain breast conditions that are not cancer. Some benign breast conditions that cause lumps can make breast cancer more likely that later. These conditions include atypical ductal hyperplasia and atypical lobular hyperplasia, which involve too much cell growth in certain cells of the chest. Another condition that is called lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) occurs when the cells grow in the glands that produce breast milk. LCIS may also increase the risk of breast cancer.

Complications

Some conditions that cause breast tumors can lead to other health problems, also called complications. Complications depend on the type of lump in the breast that has. For example, without the treatment of some infections of the breast can cause pockets of pus that form in the breast.

Other breast conditions that are not cancer may still increase the risk of breast cancer later. These include conditions that can cause lumps, such as atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ. If you have a breast condition that increases the risk of cancer, does not mean that you will definitely get breast cancer. Ask your health care professional what risk means to you and if you can make lifestyle changes to lower it.

Some lumps in the breast does not cause complications. For example, small cysts and simple fibroadenomas sometimes go away on their own over time.

Prevention

There is No clear way to prevent many lumps in the breasts. Breast lumps that are not cancer, they are often associated with the natural changes in the body, such as hormonal changes over time.

But some risk factors for cancer in the breast tumors are within your power to change. Take the following steps to decrease the risk of breast cancer:

  • Drink less alcohol. If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
  • Eating a balanced diet. Fill your plate with lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Eat less sugary, salty and processed foods.
  • Exercise. The American Cancer Society recommends that adults aim to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. Or you can try to make 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week. If you are not active now, ask your health care professional to help you get started.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of a lump in the breast is to obtain an examination and possibly tests to find the cause of the lump. During the physical exam, your healthcare provider checks your breasts, chest wall, axilla, and neck. It is proven that while you're sitting in an upright position and again while lying on her back.

It is likely that you will need one or more imaging tests to detect changes in the breast. These include:

  • Diagnostic mammogram. This is an x-ray of the breast. During a mammogram, your breasts are compressed between two firm surfaces. After an X-ray taken in black-and-white images. When your provider orders a diagnostic mammogram, this says the radiologist who reviews your images, which have a new chest of concern. A diagnostic mammogram is different from a screening mammogram, which is seen to the breast cancer before a person has symptoms.
  • Focused or directed by ultrasound. This test uses sound waves to make images of the inside of the breasts. The sound waves that come from a wand-like instrument called a transducer, which is moved over her breasts. Your health care professional says that the radiologist about the area of interest in the breast.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This test is performed with less frequency of mammography and ultrasound. An mri uses a magnetic field and radio waves to see the inside of your breasts. During an mri , you lie on a large, tube-shaped machine that scans your body and makes images. Sometimes, the magnetic resonance imaging of the breast can be done even if the diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound regular appearance. For example, magnetic resonance imaging can be used if your breasts are very dense, and the professional of the health concerns about the clinical examination of the breasts.

If these tests show that the lump is not cancer, you may need follow-up appointments. That way, your health care professional can check to see if the tumor grows, it changes or disappears.

If the test picture does not help to diagnose the tumor, your healthcare provider may take a sample of cells for laboratory testing. This is called a biopsy. There are several types of biopsies. Your health care professional recommends the one that is right for you. Breast biopsies include:

  • Fine-needle aspiration. A small amount of breast tissue or fluid is removed with a thin needle. This procedure can be used for the verification of a complex cyst or to drain fluid from a cyst painful.
  • Core needle biopsy. A health professional called a radiologist can do this procedure. A radiologist finds and treats health problems using medical imaging tests. With the core needle biopsy, ultrasound is used to guide the needle into the lump in the breast, and take a sample to check. Often, a small clip that you can't see or feel, it is also placed in the area of the biopsy. It serves as a marker that allows health professionals to calculate the area again in future revisions.
  • Stereotactic biopsy. For this procedure, you will lie face down on a padded table. One of your breasts is placed in a hole in the table. X-rays of the breast to provide a 3D view of the breast to help guide a needle into the lump to collect a sample of tissue. You may need this procedure if a suspicious area is shown on a mammogram, but the area can not be found with ultrasound. A small clip is often placed at the time of the biopsy and serves as a marker for future appointments.
  • Surgical biopsy. This procedure removes all of a lump in the breast. It is also called a lumpectomy or wide local excision. You will receive medications to prevent you from feeling pain. Also can you give the medicine that makes you sleep during the procedure.

Whatever the type of biopsy that you have, your health care professional to send tissue samples to a lab to be examined by a pathologist. That is a doctor who studies diseases and the changes caused in the tissues of the body.

Treatment

The treatment for a breast lump depends on its cause. Your health professional will help to choose the right treatment for you. Causes of breast tumors and their treatment options include:

  • Fibrocystic breasts. If you have breasts, fibrocystic, your health care professional may suggest pain medications you can buy without a prescription. These include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine. Or you may need to have the prescription for hormone therapy, such as birth control pills.
  • Breast cysts.Some breast cysts disappear without any treatment. If the cyst is painful, you may need fine-needle aspiration. This procedure will drain the fluid from the cyst with a needle. This can relieve the pain. If you have pain in the breast cysts that last for a while and keep coming back, your healthcare provider may suggest surgery to remove the painful breast tissue. But most of the times, painful, recurring breast cysts disappear around the time of menopause. That is when the hormonal changes that occur with less frequency.
  • Fibroadenomas. A fibroadenoma may go away without treatment after a couple of months. You will have regular ultrasound examinations of your breast tissue to check the size of the fibroadenoma and how it looks. Ultrasound exams can also check if the package remains the same size or grows. If it grows or you see unusual during an ultrasound, a biopsy may be needed. Depending on the laboratory findings, your healthcare provider may suggest surgery to remove the fibroadenoma.
  • Infections. Medicines called antibiotics cure of most breast infections caused by germs called bacteria. But you may need a procedure known as an incision and drainage if a bag of pus called an abscess and not improved with antibiotics.
  • Lipoma. More often, a lipoma in the chest does not need to be treated. But if a lipoma causes of the painful symptoms, it can be removed with surgery or a procedure called liposuction removes the fat cells.
  • Intraductal Papilloma. These may not need treatment. But sometimes, the intraductal papilloma and the part of the tube that are removed with surgery.
  • Breast cancer. The treatment for breast cancer depends on the type of cancer and whether it has spread. Your health care professional may suggest treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, such as anti-estrogen medications or radiation therapy. Or, you may be able to join a clinical trial that tests of new treatments.

Breast cysts. Some breast cysts disappear without any treatment. If the cyst is painful, you may need fine-needle aspiration. This procedure will drain the fluid from the cyst with a needle. This can relieve the pain.

If you have pain in the breast cysts that last for a while and keep coming back, your healthcare provider may suggest surgery to remove the painful breast tissue. But most of the times, painful, recurring breast cysts disappear around the time of menopause. That is when the hormonal changes that occur with less frequency.

Symptoms and treatment of Suspicious breast lumps