One morning during the long vacation, my old classmate, whom I had not contacted for nearly 20 years, called me timidly and blamed herself for interrupting my rare and clear dream. The old classmate discovered a fibroadenoma in her breast ten years ago, and because the lump was small, her doctor did not recommend immediate surgery.
When I asked her what she was worried about, she said she was afraid to face the reality because she was afraid of getting information from me that the fibroadenoma might become cancerous. I was silent on the other end of the phone. Fibroadenoma, a common disease of the breast, turned out to have a much greater impact on everyone than I thought.
What is a fibroadenoma?
Fibroadenoma is the most common benign tumor in the breast and can occur in women of any age after puberty, although it is most common in girls between the ages of 18 and 25. If you have fibroids, you will not feel anything, just a painless lump in your breast, and you will not experience symptoms of breast cancer such as breast pain or nipple discharge.
How to distinguish whether a “lump” is a lobular growth or a fibroadenoma
Often, people unknowingly find an isolated lump on their breast that is not painful to the touch and sliding around inside the breast, and then hesitate to go to the hospital. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish whether the “lump” is a lobular growth or a fibroadenoma. There is a very practical method: if the size of the lump changes significantly around the time of your period, then in most cases the “lump” is just a lobular hyperplasia; but if the “lump” does not change significantly at any time, then it may be a mature fibroadenoma.
The occurrence of fibroadenoma is related to endocrine hormone imbalance, which can occur due to elevated local estrogen. Therefore, the so-called “essential oil breast massage” is not necessarily a good thing.
Can fibroadenoma of the breast become cancerous or not?
According to the current research results, there is no direct correlation between breast fibroids and breast cancer, and the possibility of cancer is very low, almost negligible. Most fibroadenomas are not likely to recur after complete removal, but young patients may develop new lesions in other areas or adjacent to the original surgical area and grow new breast fibroids. Some studies have shown that patients with “fibroadenoma without complex features” do not have an increased risk of developing breast cancer relative to the general population. The rumors of fibroadenoma cancer on the Internet are all nonsense; some of them are simply false advertisements made by unscrupulous hospitals to attract patients.
However, although breast fibroids themselves are not cancerous, for single oversized lumps, beware of low-grade malignant lobulated tumors. Especially during pregnancy, fibroadenomas grow rapidly and are much more likely to develop into lobulated tumors. Therefore, a clear diagnosis is very important.
What should I do if I have a fibroadenoma?
Fibroadenoma, once formed, can only be eradicated by surgery, and cannot be cured by medication. However, benign masses can be operated on electively, which means that it is possible to open them without being in a hurry.
Do I need anesthesia for surgery? Will it leave a scar? What will happen without surgery?
In fact, the whole procedure is very simple, not much more complicated than tooth extraction, and it is entirely up to you to decide when and how to do the surgery. The whole procedure takes about half an hour, and the local anesthetic is administered to the breast surgery area.
Girls who love beauty can choose minimally invasive surgery, and the scars are not visible at all after the operation. In fact, the traditional suture technique has been very much improved nowadays, and the post-operative period is almost just a faint linear scar, and there will no longer be the centipede-like scars that used to affect the aesthetics.
Because it is an elective surgery, it is necessary to avoid surgery during menstruation in order to protect the breast and lactation function; if you are preparing for pregnancy, it is recommended to have the surgery six months before to give the breast sufficient time to recover. If surgery is not done, then the fibroadenoma will be so big or grow slowly. To rule out the possibility of breast cancer, it is recommended to have an ultrasound once in 3 to 6 months to observe the size of the lump, its boundary and blood flow; for women over 40 years old, mammogram should be added once a year.
What should I pay attention to in terms of diet? What should I eat more of and what should I not eat?
My opinion is that all foods should be eaten in moderation to ensure balanced nutrition. A healthy diet structure is an important way to protect breast health.
1. It is recommended to eat soybeans.
Soy has a protective effect on the mammary glands. The soy isoflavones contained in soy are one of the phytoestrogens, which are different from human estrogen. Studies have found that phytoestrogens play a bi-directional role in regulating estrogen levels in women’s bodies. Simply put, it can play a role in supplementing estrogen when our body is short of estrogen, while it plays a suppressive role when the body’s estrogen level is too high.
2. Royal jelly is not recommended.
Estrogen-rich health products such as propolis, royal jelly and pollen are not recommended.
There is no need to be overly nervous about having fibroadenoma of the breast, especially for young women in their 20’s. There is no need to suffer from fibroadenoma.