Her name is Lin Xiaohui (a pseudonym), she is 31 years old. Recently, she found that her breast nodules had a tendency to increase in size, so she went to the hospital for a checkup, and to her surprise, the breast enlargement nodules five years ago turned into breast cancer! Fortunately, it ended up being carcinoma in situ. Breast nodules to breast cancer, five years, what made her nodules change so much? During the course of the attending doctor’s conversation with her, the problem gradually came to light. Five years ago, when she was diagnosed with breast nodules, she was advised by her doctor to have ‘regular check-ups’, but as a business translator, Lin Xiaohui was at the beginning of her career at that time, and she did not spare the time to spend on check-ups in order to stand firm in her company. She thought that since the nodules were benign, the risk of deterioration was very low and she would not be so unlucky as to become a “what-if”, so she never went to the hospital for a review. What exactly is the significance of regular review? In fact, many people, like Lin Xiaohui, think that “regular review” is just to observe the changes of the nodules, and it does not change anything, so it is not necessary. But in fact, “regular review” can be said to be an important clinical “treatment” second only to surgery. The purpose of “regular review” is to observe the change of nodules and predict the trend of the disease, so that the doctor can adjust the treatment plan and treat the nodules in time, which can avoid greater risks. If she had been reviewed regularly and the appropriate measures were taken, her condition would not have progressed to the point of breast cancer. Why not just have surgery instead of regular follow-up? Many people will ask why we did not operate in the first place. It is because most of the hyperplastic nodules do not deteriorate. Out of 100 hyperplastic nodules, only 1-2 nodules may become tumors. It is impossible for doctors to remove 100 nodules because of these 1-2 nodules. This is obviously over-medication. Only if tumor is suspected, surgical removal biopsy (for pathology) is needed, and the surgery does not achieve the absolute purpose of removing the nodule to prevent tumor. Even if you remove this nodule, there is no guarantee that it will not grow into a new one in the future, and it is likely that the nodule you remove will not become a tumor for the rest of your life. When a hyperplastic nodule becomes a tumor, there is inevitably a carcinogenic potential in the body, and since the mechanism of carcinogenesis is still unclear. Therefore, doctors have no way to know which nodule can become cancerous, so they have to ask all people with hyperplastic nodules to come for frequent review and monitor their changes. The development of breast cancer is a relatively slow process, and nodules do not get worse all at once. Regular review is a comprehensive analysis and judgment through the doctor’s dynamic observation, physical examination, perceptual experience of touch and morphological and dynamic changes under ultrasound mammography, such as the growth pattern of nodes, edge morphology, internal density level and surrounding vascular structure. If adverse changes are found in a nodule in a constant location, the physician can decide whether excisional biopsy or prophylactic excision is necessary. To summarize, the probability of a hyperplastic nodule becoming cancerous is very low, but it is not impossible, and sometimes “what if” it happens to you. No doctor can tell which nodule will deteriorate, and surgery cannot prevent tumor, so we can only help doctors determine whether further examination and treatment are needed through “regular review” to avoid greater risk. So don’t take ‘regular review’ seriously.