Breast lumps are common and frightening to discover, but around 80 percent of all evaluated lumps are benign, states the McKinley Health Center of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Breast tissue often changes during the menstrual cycle and while breast-feeding, causing large lumps that may appear and disappear. Any breast lump needs follow-up with medical personnel, notes the McKinley Health Center, because painless breast lumps are the most common symptom of breast cancer.
Fibrocystic Changes
Fibrocystic changes, a term used to describe cysts and overall breast lumpiness, can have many benign causes. Fibrocystic changes, which affect at least half of all women at some time between the ages of 30 and 50, trigger more breast biopsies than any other cause, says the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Fibrocystic changes occur most frequently in the upper, outer portion of the breast, but they can occur in any area and may change from month to month. Fibrocystic changes generally decrease after menopause. Fluid-filled cysts that feel like soft, round grapes and become tender around the time of a menstrual period may also develop.
Fibroadenoma
Fibroadenomas, the second most common type of breast lump, are rubbery, solid, moveable lumps that occur most commonly between the ages of 18 and 35. Most breast lumps in women under age 25 are fibroadenomas, explains the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The lumps caused by fibroadenoma do not change during the menstrual cycle.
Mastitis
Infections in the breast can lead to an abscess, a walled-off infection. Breast infections occur mostly in the postpartum period and after breast surgery or penetrating trauma. A medical professional should evaluate any infection that occurs under other conditions to rule out cancer, according to the Merck Manuals. Mastitis causes pain, tenderness and warmth in the area of infection.
Cancer
The McKinley Health Center notes that breast cancer causes painless lumps 66 percent of the time and painful lumps in 11 percent of cases. Nipple discharge is a symptom of breast cancer in 9 percent of cases. Breast cancer can develop in men, as well as women, but only 1 percent of cases occur in men, states the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The risk of breast cancer, the most common cancer in women, increases with age, family history of breast cancer in a close relative, alcohol use and smoking. Early detection is essential to improve survival; four out of five women who receive early treatment survive at least five years after diagnosis, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point reports.
