Ask A Magnet Nurse

Benign Breast Conditions Are Common And Treatable

Robin McMichael, RN, BSN, CNBN
Clinical Coordinator
Telfair Pavilion

Smart Living: Breast cancer awareness continues to grow in this community, along with the importance of early detection. But are there other conditions that affect breast health that may need treatment?

Robin McMichael: Yes, there are many conditions that may lead you to seek breast care. Often these are revealed to be benign, meaning non-cancerous. Some of the most common include simple breast cysts, which are fluid-filled sacs, and fibroadenomas, which are benign tumors made up of glandular and connective tissue. Fibroadenomas most often occur in younger women. Both of these conditions may feel like a lump in the breast.

Some conditions are found through biopsy, such as atypical hyperplasia, which is an accumulation of abnormal but non-cancerous cells within either the duct or lobules of breast tissue. This is a benign finding, but is usually removed by a surgeon at Telfair Breast Surgery due to the potential of increasing one’s risk of developing breast cancer.

SL: A biopsy can cause anxiety in some patients because they are worried it means something is malignant. How do you help those patients through the process?

RM: It’s natural to be worried when we ask for additional imaging or a biopsy, but we do our best to try to alleviate a patient’s concerns by explaining that many findings are benign and not life-threatening. And the sooner we can definitively diagnose something as benign or malignant, the sooner we can begin the best treatment for you.