Most fibroadenomas form in the breast while a woman is in her 20s or 30s, sometimes in her 40s.  Occasionally, a fibroadenoma can enlarge slightly from year to year under stimulation from a woman's own hormones or from hormone replacement therapy.  A fibroadenoma will not disappear by itself, and is not know to be related to any particular diet or medical condition.

Currently, many approaches are used for dealing with a fibroadenoma.  A large fibroadenoma, which can be felt in a young patient, is generally removed with surgery because it will only get larger, not smaller.  A small fibroadenoma, which has been monitored through mammography for two to three years and cannot be felt, generally needs no particular treatment.  When a new fibroadenoma is found, often the use of high-resolution breast ultrasound can establish its diagnosis with better than 98 percent certainty.  This requires that an additional step be taken to verify the diagnosis.  Because some patients (and their physicians) are uncomfortable with the 2 percent chance that the ultrasound diagnosis is inaccurate, different approaches can be used to establish the diagnosis.  Essentially, there are three options to establish the diagnosis, with different advantages and disadvantages.  These options are:

The NMMC Breast Care Center would like to provide you with more information
about breast health issues.  If you have additional questions after 
reading this information, please ask a breast health specialist,
mammography technologist or radiologist.