Breast Lumps - Current Concepts and Treatment

Written for 'The Singapore Family Physician'
Vol 26 No 3
Edited for Web Use

A current textbook on breast diseases lists over twenty causes of breast lumps, but the lumps commonly encountered in clinical practice are fewer. These are listed.

Common Causes of Breast Lumps

1)         Fibroadenoma

2)         Fibroadenosis

3)         Breast Cyst

4)         Breast Abscess

5)         Breast Cancer

Traditionally most, if not all, breast lumps are excised for fear of missing a cancer. However, with newer diagnostic tests and better understanding of the pathogenesis and natural history of these breast lumps, newer treatment concepts, which in many instances do not involve surgical excision, have emerged.