Hard Pea Sized Lump In Both Breasts,breast-fed 1 Year Ago,more Bead-like Hard Lumps,stressed

Posted on Sun, 17 Apr 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 Answered on

Thu, 17 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : breast lump - hard pea size lump found in each breast a year after breasfeeding. GP located one of the lumps in one breasts when I asked for general check, but I am pretty sure there is another one in the other breast. The lump does not appear textured but is hard. I am 38 years old and stopped breasfeeding my youngest son a year ago. I nursed him for nearly 23 months and prior to this nursed my eldest son a year previously for again, 22 months. I have always had lumpy breasts but more so since stopping breastfeeding. I have recently found two small hard lumps, one in each breast. The more I check I seem to find more bead like hard lumps. This caused me a lot of concern since my mohter was recently diagnosed in her late sixties as having pre invasive breast cancer, which im told is the very early stages and not in fact full blown cancer . I have an ultrasound in two weeks after my GP found one of the lumps, and Im oging out my mind with worry! Is there any chance that after a year of breast feeding I could have lumps that relate to milk still being stored? I have also been under a lot of stress for 6 months.

Answered by Dr. Kiran Kumar Kalal (2 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for your query.

Breast lumps are common in women of your age and you have done right thing consulting physician regarding this.

There are two types of lumps benign( most common) and malignant. 95% of malignant diseases are diagnosed in women over 40 years of age and median diagnostic age for carcinoma breast is 61 years. I do not feel these lumps are related to lactation.

As you said your mother has been diagnosed of pre invasive breast cancer, I like to mention that certain cancers have familial tendencies and BRCA -1 and BRCA-2 are the genes associated with it. Having a family history of breast disease is an important indicator for the diagnosis of breast lump. Recurrent history of breast cancers in the family are more suggestive of hereditary transfer of breast cancer. Except for the mother's history, you have not reported of other family member having breast cancer.

There is a possibility of having lumps related to milk in the breast, but as I mentioned earlier it is unlikely to be related to breast feeding. If at all there are lumps related to milk, they are of Endocrinal disorder.

The ultrasound examination of the lump and if necessary a fine needle aspiration of the lump will confirm the nature and type of lump. So be patient and do not lose hope. From where I see there are likely to be a benign non concerning problem.

Hope I had answered your queries. I would be available here to answer if you have any further questions.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar