breast lump
Last reviewed 01/2018
The clinical assessment of a "breast lump" should consider:
- age:
- carcinoma - more likely around and after the menopause
- fibroadenoma - more common in young women
- predisposing events:
- trauma - fat necrosis
- breast feeding - mastitis / abscess
- timing:
- fibroadenosis may produce a painful, lumpy breast prior to menstruation
- consistency:
- hard - a discrete lump suggests fibroadenoma if it is solid with a smooth surface, or a fibroadenotic cyst if fluctuant; a poorly defined margin or evidence of tethering suggests carcinoma, or non-infective mastitis
- soft - suggests a lipoma or a lax cyst
- tenderness