What are the odds of 6 lumps being benign?

Some people are just lumpy... you for sure could have 6 benign lumps... Take it one day at a time... but I would get a biopsy regardless... maybe get a core needle biopsy instead of an excisional... Can't keep getting excisional biopsies or you won't have anything left.. and if they are just fibroids, you wouldn't want to remove half your breast, right?

I agree with you... and understand you wanting to know.. If you want the biopsies, you should get the biopsies... I would get them..And cancer can afflict women of your age... it may not be common, but t happens.. I work at a school and the 23 year old sibling of girls at the school has breast cancer... you are your best advocate... follow your gut.

I'd second what Coolbreeze said.  I had lumps all my life too - I had my first fibroadenoma at the age of 16.  I had another at around age 20.  I had lumps that turned out to be fatty deposits.  And I had more cysts that I can remember.  All of my lumps were benign and harmless.  I was eventually diagnosed with breast cancer but not until I was 49 and not in the same breast where I had my fibroadenomas or many of my cysts. My cancer was detected as calcifications; there was never a lump. I don't believe that my breast cancer was related in any way to the lumps that I had for all those years. My mother was diagnosed with BC too - and she never had lumps.

Because of my lumpy breasts, whenever I had an ultrasound or mammo that showed a lump or if I felt new lump that had developed, I'd head straight to a breast surgeon.  It was because I had access to a breast surgeon who insisted that I be carefully checked that my breast cancer was detected when it was still very early stage.  So the way I look at it, my lumpy breasts may have saved my life and certainly they helped me avoid treatments like chemo, which would have been necessary if my cancer had been detected at a later stage.

There are some of us who unfortunately have severely fibrocystic breasts and get lots of lumps. I'm one of those.  And while lots of women get fibroadenomas, about 10% - 15% of women with fibroadenomas have multiple fibroadenomas. You are one of those.  You need to continue to get regular screening to ensure that your lumps are just fibroadenomas but the good news is that fibroadenomas often can be very clearly identified just from how they look on an ultrasound. If I were in your shoes, I would be sure to see a breast surgeon, and I would ask if any of the lumps looked in any way suspicious - in other words, might any of them not be fibroadenomas?  If the answer was yes, then I'd request a biopsy on those.  But if the answer was no, then I'd be happy to not have to have a biopsy. That's how I would handle it; you have to do whatever makes you the most comfortable.   

BTW... they can drain cysts and biopsy the fluid... it helps with the pain that cysts can cause and is a simply in office procedure... If they are fibroids, for me, I'd rather have them taken out or at least biopsied (excisional or core)... everyone is different, but I feel if it is going to make me lose sleep, then take them out.

Aug242007, did you have multiple fibroadenomas?  That is a very specific condition, and somewhat different than simply having lumpy breasts. Fibroadenomas often can be very clearly identified on an ultrasound. Kennessee had 3 of her fibroadenomas removed and verified to be fibroadenomas.  Now her docs have viewed the others on an ultrasound and are confident that a biopsy isn't necessary. This isn't unusual for women who have multiple fibroadenomas, as mdoak explained about her own situation. As she put it so well, "The fibroadenomas all look the same on ultrasound, oval, wider rather than tall, smooth edges. Whenever one starts looking funky the radiologist biopsies it. Otherwise, they are left alone."  This is the standard protocol for those who have multiple fibroadenomas - and yes, it is somewhat different than what is done for those who have unidentified lumps.  So it sounds as though your situation may have been different from Kennessee's situation. For you, having the biopsies was necessary.  They were necessary for me too - except when my 2nd fibroadenoma showed up because it was so obviously a fibroadenoma. For Kennessee, having a biopsy of each lump may not be necessary. What's most important is that she talk to her new breast surgeon about this. That's the opinion that matters most.   

Some people don't know how to comfort... try not to be hurt.

Check into Lugol's iodine.  It has been shown to erradicate fibrocystic breasts.  I had over 30 cysts in one breat at one time.  The danger is that they can block the view of a potential serious lump on a mammogram.  Do some research. 

20% of lumps are not cancer.  The percentage of lumps that are cancer is actually much lower.  

The actual stat, which is almost always misquoted here, is that 20% of biopsies result in a diagnosis of breast cancer.  What we often forget is that many abnormalities that are seen on a mammo or ultrasound, including some types of calcifications and many lumps - particularly cysts and fibroadenomas - are not biopsied.  What we also forget is that most of us who hang out here were the ones who landed on the short side of the odds - we were diagnosed with breast cancer.  So it's natural that we will reflect our experience in what we say and in our recommendations.  The vast majority of women who had lumps or other abnormalities and who had benign biopsies, or who never even required a biopsy, don't hang out here.  That's important to remember.

This chart explains what the diagnostic process and shows the actual percent of women who progress through each stage: 

 http://www.imaginis.com/breast-health/overview-of-breast-cancer-diagnosis-decision-process

Of those who have a call-back after a routine mammogram, only 5% are diagnosed with breast cancer.  75% don't even require a biopsy.  This includes many women with cysts and fibroadenomas. 

kennessee, this isn't to say that you shouldn't have the biopsy done on the two lumps that your surgeon has agreed to biopsy.  If those lumps feel different to you, then you should definitely get the biopsy.  And if you are uncomfortable not checking any of the other lumps, then you should press for a biopsy of those too. One option might be a fine needle biopsy, which is the simplest and least invasive procedure and probably would be all that's necessary to confirm that your lumps are fibroadenomas.  What's most important is that you have to be comfortable and confident about how your difficult situation - having multiple fibroadenomas - is being monitored.  You have to be your own advocate.  And it sounds like that is exactly what you are doing.   

Good luck with the biopsies!

I am 43. I had my first fibroadenoma diagnosis at 32. Many were to follow. I kept up with yearly sonos til I was forty then sono and mamo. At 42 I was recommended to have a excisional biopsy of an atypically growing fibroadenoma. I agreed two years later, as we know fibroadenomas can grow back! So I had the lumpectomy and found out I had lobular carcinoma in situ. This only happens less than 1% of the time. I had an mri and another 5 mm finding was found it was assumed to be another fibroadenoma but I pushed for another needle biopsy. LCIS unlike fibroadenoma is a significant risk for breast cancer.

My advice is stay diligent with screening! I would even try to push for an MRI. Many women with fibroadenomas have dense breast tissue and mammograms miss a lot!