In: Nursing
A benign tumor is not a malignant tumor, which is cancer. It does not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body the way cancer can. In most cases, the outlook with benign tumors is very good. But benign tumors can be serious if they press on vital structures such as blood vessels or nerves.
Benign (non-cancerous) breastconditions are unusual growths or other changes in the breast tissue that are not cancer. Having a benign breastcondition can be scary at first because the symptoms often mimic those caused by breast cancer.
Breast lumps often form when excess cells accumulate and bind together. One common type of benign breast mass is a fibroadenoma, which can develop if breast tissue grows over a milk-producing gland (lobule). Like most breast lumps, fibroadenomas are not serious and will not become cancerous.
For benign phyllodes tumors, surgery to remove the tumor is the only treatment needed.However, regular mammograms or other imaging tests may be needed as benign phyllodes tumors can come back. If a benign phyllodes tumor comes back, another biopsy or surgery will be needed to confirm the diagnosis.
There are many possible causes of non-cancerous (benign) breast lumps. Two of the most common causes of benign single breast lumps are cysts and fibroadenomas. In addition, several other conditions can present themselves as lumps, such as fat necrosis and sclerosing adenosis.
Some types of benign tumors only very rarely transform into malignant tumors. But some types, such as adenomatous polyps (adenomas) in the colon have a greater risk of transforming into cancer. That is why polyps, which are benign, are removed during colonoscopy.
But not all tumors are malignant, or cancerous, and not all are aggressive. Benign tumors, while sometimes painful and potentially dangerous, do not pose the threat that malignant tumors do. "Malignant cells are more likely to metastasize.