The main breast diseases

Adenofibromes, lipomas, mastodynia, abscesses, cysts, tumors ... Many conditions can affect the breast during the life of a woman.Their discovery and diagnosis can be the subject of great anxiety.The most common, however, remain benign tumors."They have slow growth and remain located in the fabric or the organ on which they have appeared," read on the site of the National Cancer Institute.

Adenofibromes, the most frequent

Symptoms

The most frequent of benign breast tumors are fibroadenomas or adenofibromes."These are small flesh balls that develop in the mammary glands," defines Dr. Nasrine Callet, gynecologist and oncologist at the Institut Curie.These glandular formations are particularly observed in young women and are generally 2 to 3 centimeters in diameter.

They are round, mobilizable under the skin and firm at palpation.In mammography and ultrasound, their contours are very regular.The mass is often painless and it is not accompanied by breast flow

Diagnostic

The doctor can make the diagnosis thanks to a clinical breast examination.Mammography, ultrasound or even biopsy allows it to be confirmed.

Treatment

An adenofibrome can be left in place."If it is big, you can remove it," explains the specialist.The doctor will be able to request a puncture.Made with needle without local anesthesia, this gesture is certainly unpleasant but not too painful.The cells that this puncture allows to collect will confirm the diagnosis of adenofibroma in a few days.

In the vast majority of cases, these tumors do not expose an increased risk of breast cancer.In young women, we are therefore content to monitor them unless they grow too quickly.In older women, a more interventionist attitude (surgery) is more willingly offered.The intervention, practiced under general anesthesia, is easy and requires a stop of only a few days of work.

The case of intracanal lipomes and papillomas

Other benign tumors can also be encountered as:

Mastodynies

Symptoms

Some women also complain each month of breast tension and breast pain or mastodynies during the week preceding the rules.The breasts swell and become particularly sensitive.This phenomenon, which is integrated into what is called premenstrual syndrome, is due to the hormonal modifications of the female cycle.

In question, "water retention before the rules that swell the mammary glands and makes them painful by congestion", as specified by Dr. Callet."They are often felt before the rules but in the event of hormonal disruption, women may be in pain during the whole cycle".

These mastodynies wrongly worry many women because they do not increase the probability of breast cancer.

Treatment

It happens that we offer to treat them anti-inflammatory drugs or veinotonics.Sometimes also the doctor prescribes hormonal therapies, including progestins or changes an existing hormone treatment (pill) in order to mitigate them.

Breast abscesses

Symptoms

Infections or breast abscesses may occur after breastfeeding.The germs were able to penetrate inside the gland by the mamelon crevices.These conditions are manifested by a fever, the increase in the signs of the armpit, a red and painful skin zone and, in the event of abscess, the appearance of a size.

Treatment

Infections will be treated by antibiotics, but abscesses must be drained."We then prescribe an ultrasound once it is finished to monitor the interior, that the abscess is well cleaned," said Dr. Callet.

Cysts, a very common pathology

Symptoms

Another benign breast pathology, cysts are also very frequent, especially between 40 and 50 years old.These are small bags filled with liquids that develop in the breast.Cysts are often a soft and mobile mass in the breast.

They can remain silent (no clinical sign) but often cause pain, especially when menstruation.Sometimes they appear suddenly after stress in anxious women.These cysts can be unique or multiple and are generally well visualized to ultrasound because this examination highlights the presence of liquid inside the cyst.

Diagnostic

The diagnosis can include a clinical examination, a breast ultrasound, a mammography or even a biopsy.

Treatment

"If the cysts are small, we leave them and we watch.If they are big, they must be punctuated because they could plug the view during mammography, "said Dr. Nasrine Callet.The puncture of the cyst then serves both as a diagnostic and therapeutic test because it allows:

A surgical gesture can however be made if the cyst does it again after aspiration.

Gynecomastia

Symptoms

Gynecomastia corresponds to the increase in the volume of one or more breasts in humans.The breast can be sensitive.Gynecomastia can be due to liver disease, taking certain drugs, sex hormones or genetic disorder.

Diagnostic

Clinical examination, blood analysis to measure hormone levels, mammography and biopsy can be prescribed by the doctor.

Treatment

Gynecomastia during puberty most often disappears naturally and does not require treatment.In other cases, the treatment will be adapted to the cause the latter.Surgical intervention can be offered in some cases.

Breast flow

Symptoms

Symptoms may vary depending on the cause of the nipple flow:

Diagnostic

The doctor will seek the cause of the flow.It has several diagnostic means: clinical examination, blood analysis, mammography, galactography, flow analysis or even biopsy.

Treatment

The treatment will obviously depend on the cause.It can be medical or surgical.

Malignant tumors

Some tumors can however be malignant, made up of cancer cells.They generally have an ill -defined outline and tend to invade neighboring fabrics.Anatomopathological examination of a tumor sample will identify the cancer tumor.For early diagnosis, regular screening is fundamental.