Fibrocystic breast disease is the most frequent disease of the breast. It is most common in women between the ages of 30 and 50, and uncommon in postmenopausal women not on hormone replacement.

Most people are diagnosed with fibrocystic disease when examination reveals a lump in the breast. It may be discovered by accident, or when pain or tenderness in the area calls attention to it. There can be a discharge from the nipple, and discomfort typically increases during the premenstrual part of the cycle, when the cysts tend to enlarge. Rapid appearance or disappearance of breast lumps are common in cystic disease, as are multiple or bilateral masses.

Masses from fibrocystic disease are very difficult to differentiate from breast cancer on the basis of clinical findings. Most suspicious lumps are routinely biopsied by surgeons, who look at the cells for possible pathology. A fine needle aspiration is usually the procedure of choice. If a suspicious mass does not resolve over several months, it is usually excised, but a conservative method of treatment is used, most often confined to the breast lump itself.

Pain, a change in size of the lesion, and more than one growth are the most helpful signs in differentiating fibrocystic disease from breast cancer. Doctors are generally aggressive in diagnosis, and the final diagnosis itself is made after excision. Mammography is helpful but not always definitive, as the breast tissue involved often is very radiodense and difficult to interpret in the study. Sonograms help to tell cystic masses from solid ones.

Certain medications may be used to help with confirmed fibrocystic disease. The medication involves suppression of gonadotropic hormones from the pituitary gland, but it has side effects that don't make it a routine drug of choice. Avoidance of caffeine is said to help, as is taking Vitamin E, but clinical studies are not definitive in either case.

The information contained on this page is not intended to provide medical advice, which should be obtained directly from your physician.