Lump in breast adolesent

You may have many changes in your breasts as a teen and young adult. Some changes are linked to your period. Others are linked to birth control pills, or to other hormonal forms of birth control. In some cases, changes may happen at any time for no clear reason.

Breast masses in children and adolescents are uncommon and most often benign. Occasionally, however, they require surgical intervention for lifestyle limiting symptoms or malignant potential. These masses are best evaluated with physical exam and ultrasound. Breast masses likely to be encountered by the surgeon in the pediatric and adolescent population include intraductal papillomas, phyllodes tumors, primary breast cancer, and metastatic lesions. Unlike adults, pediatric and adolescent breast cancer tends to be of the secretory variety and typically have less metastatic potential. However, cases of inflammatory and medullary breast cancers have also been reported in girls and appear more aggressive.

Related Article. The diagnostic evaluation of an adolescent presenting with a breast mass differs substantially from that of an adult because of marked differences in breast cancer risk and breast architecture. In the adolescent, early clinical assessment and close follow-up are most important, and there is less emphasis on exclusion of a breast malignancy. In adults, 11 percent of breast masses represent breast cancer. The prevalence of breast masses among teenage girls is approximately 3.

In the pediatric and adolescent population, breast masses are nearly always benign, self-limited and managed conservatively, in contrast to adults, where malignant tumors have a relatively high incidence and often require excision. This article describes the imaging features of developmental variants and breast masses in children and adolescents, and the associated clinical findings that can facilitate the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of these patients. Ultrasonography is the mainstay of breast imaging in children and adolescents, in contrast to adults, where mammography is the standard screening study. Mammography also utilizes ionizing radiation, and the principle of radiation exposure in a young population is to keep the radiation dose as low as reasonably achievable.