Breast Fibroadenomas

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Breast Fibroadenomas

What Are Fibroadenomas?:
Fibroadenomas are one of the findings that can be seen on your mammogram. They are benign (not cancerous) breast tumors that are made of glandular and fibrous breast tissue. Fibroadenomas can occur alone, in groups or as a complex. If you have multiple or complex fibroadenomas, this may raise your risk of breast cancer slightly.
Can You Feel a Fibroadenoma?:
While doing your regular breast self-exam, you may feel a breast fibroadenoma. These feel firm, round, smooth, rubbery, and are movable. They are so mobile that women sometimes refer to them as “breast mice” because they tend to run away from your fingers. A fibroadenoma may feel tender, especially right before your period, when it may swell due to hormonal changes.
What Sizes Are Fibroadenomas?:
Fibroadenomas range in size from one to five cm, (0.39 inches to nearly two inches). Giant fibroadenomas can be the size of a small lemon, about 15 cm (5.9 inches).
What Do Fibroadenomas Look like on a Mammogram?:
Fibroadenomas appear as round or oval smooth-edged masses. The outline of the mass will be clearly defined, not blurry. Sometimes they are accompanied by coarse calcifications. Fibroadenomas can look like cysts or a well-contained tumor.
How Can You Be Sure It Is a Fibroadenoma?:
Your doctor or radiologist may send you to have an ultrasound study done. This is because a fibroadenoma will be easier to distinguish from other tissue, because of the way it responds to sound waves. It will appear as a dark area, with a definite outline, homogeneous, round or oval, and may have smooth-edged bumps. If the ultrasound doesn’t give a definite result, the next study may be an MRI (magnetic resonance image). The most conclusive test is a fine needle biopsy or a core needle biopsy, to get a sample of the cells for a pathologist to examine.
What Happens Next, If You Have Fibroadenomas?:
Since fibroadenomas are benign, treatment will vary depending on your diagnosis. If it is small, painless, remains the same size, and a biopsy shows no problems, you would not need further treatment, but may have follow-up ultrasounds. However, if it is large (more than three cm), painful, growing, or a biopsy results in atypical (very active) cells, you can have it surgically removed. Doctors recommend removal of fibroadenomas, if you are over 40 years old.
What Causes Fibroadenomas?:
The exact cause of fibroadenomas is unknown. They seem to be influenced by estrogen, because they appear most often in premenopausal or pregnant women, or in women who are postmenopausal and taking HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Most fibroadenomas come and go during your menstrual cycle, when your hormone levels are changing.
When Do Fibroadenomas Appear?:
These are most common in women who are from 15 to 30 years old and in pregnant women. Fibroadenomas occur in 10 percent of all women, but in 20 percent of African-American women. They are much less common in postmenopausal women, unless the women is on estrogen therapy. About 10 percent of all fibroadenomas will disappear over time, and twenty percent of them will recur. If they don’t disappear, they usually stop growing when they reach two or three cm.

By Pam Stephen
2 Jan 2009