Do breast lumps always necessarily indicate breast cancer?

If you have recently noticed the appearance of breast lumps, this article will likely contain all that you wanted or needed to know. Read on below to find out if breast lumps always necessarily indicate breast cancer, as esteemed consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon, Miss Sascha Dua, provides us with an all-you-need-to know guide about breast lumps.

What are the main causes of breast lumps?

Most breast lumps are actually completely innocent, and are simply caused by the ageing process. Depending on your age, we see different things, such as cysts. Having said that though, any lump that persists for longer than three weeks ought to be checked out by a specialist.

Do breast lumps always indicate breast cancer?

Not at all. Very few breast lumps actually end up being cancerous. If the patient is worried, we can reassure them (in the majority of cases) that it is just a cyst, or a hormonal change. We can carry out a test called a mammogram.

How are breast lumps detected?

What will normally happen is that a woman will find a breast lump, and she’s not so sure what it could be, so she goes to see the doctor. The GP, if he or she suspects that it could be a cancerous or dangerous breast lump, will refer the patient to a specialist.

The specialist will then check the lump(s). Then we will do some imaging testing, which will be either a mammogram (an X-ray of the breast), and sometimes an ultrasound scan. We would carry out further tests such as biopsies if we feel as though it might not be an innocent breast lump.

Once they have been found, what happens next?

We are at the biopsy stage now, so the biopsy will be sent off the laboratory. Even though the lump may be innocent, if we think it is benign, we will want to label it and give an accurate diagnosis for the patient at this stage.

If breast cancer is detected, we will convene with a group of experts to discuss the patient’s case. At this point, once the results come back, I can usually tell the biopsy of the tumour, the prognosis of the tumour, and what is likely to be involved in the early stages of the management.

Should breast lumps be removed immediately, and how are they removed or managed?

It depends on what exactly the breast lump is. If the patient has a benign lump, it’s small, and it’s not really bothering the patient, then we can give the patient good advice about how they can leave that lump alone.

Cancerous lumps need to be removed. However, this is a complex situation and depends on the tumour. We can remove them through surgical removal, or sometimes, we will carry out chemotherapy before surgery.

To book a consultation with Miss Sascha Dua today, simply head on over to her Top Doctors profile.