Breast Mass Resident Survival Guide
Overview
A breast mass is described as a mass that develops in the breast tissue. The breast consists of many different types of tissue, like mammillary glands, and mammillary ducts, and tubes. Additionally, fibrous tissue, fatty tissue, nerves, blood vessels, and lymph nodes also form important constituents of the breast. As a result, the breast mass differs widely in sizes and textures, and symptoms like pain or tenderness. They can be large or small and may either feel hard or spongy. Most of the breast masses are discovered incidentally, either by women on self-breast examination, physical examination by the practitioner, or if an imaging study was done for some other diagnosis. Sometimes, the diagnosis is made while the annual mammography is done to detect possible suspicious lesions. Women of the reproductive age group are more prone to develop breast lumps or masses. Breast masses can be physiological like adenosis or pathological like malignancy or cancer. Occasionally, breast masses can be associated with hormonal changes, which have a waxing and waning course. Breast masses, although uncommon, can occur in men [1]. Most of the breast masses are benign. Imaging studies like mammograms, ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology, and Biopsy [2] are used for confirming the diagnosis [3]. If the diagnosis of cancer is confirmed, modalities like lumpectomy, mastectomy, chemotherapy, or radiation are used to treat that.
Causes
Life Threatening Causes
- Breast cancer
- Breast abscess
- Fat necrosis
Common Causes
- Breast cysts
- These are the fluid-filled, sacs in the breast tissue. They can be either round or oval-shaped and of varied sizes. In the majority of cases, they are palpable as a smooth, round, movable mass, which can present with symptoms like pain and tenderness. Mostly seen in women in their reproductive years, like in the 30s and 40s. The size of the cyst can vary intermittently based on hormonal influences, like menstruation and pregnancy.
- Galactocele
- Fibrocystic masses
- Fibroadenoma
- Hamartoma
- Intraductal papilloma
- Lipoma
- Mastitis
- Trauma
- ↑ Yuan WH, Li AF, Chou YH, Hsu HC, Chen YY (2018). "Clinical and ultrasonographic features of male breast tumors: A retrospective analysis". PLoS ONE. 13 (3): e0194651. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194651. PMC 5860767. PMID 29558507.
- ↑ Karim MO, Khan KA, Khan AJ, Javed A, Fazid S, Aslam MI (March 2020). "Triple Assessment of Breast Lump: Should We Perform Core Biopsy for Every Patient?". Cureus. 12 (3): e7479. doi:10.7759/cureus.7479. PMC 7188022 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32351857 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Duijm LE, Guit GL, Hendriks JH, Zaat JO, Mali WP (November 1998). "Value of breast imaging in women with painful breasts: observational follow up study". BMJ. 317 (7171): 1492–5. doi:10.1136/bmj.317.7171.1492. PMC 28731. PMID 9831579.