Differential diagnosis of breast cancer

Every female friend hopes to have a graceful figure, but in life, many female compatriots unfortunately suffer from breast cancer. Early treatment is crucial for breast cancer patients. Therefore, it is very necessary for our health to know more about the differential diagnosis methods of breast cancer in daily life.

1. Breast fibroadenoma: more common in young women (20-30 years old), the lumps are mostly located in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, round or oblate, generally less than 3 cm. Single or multiple, tough, smooth or nodular surface, clear boundaries, no adhesions, and a sense of sliding when touched. The lumps are painless and grow slowly, but they increase rapidly during pregnancy.

2. Hyperplasia of the mammary glands: It is caused by functional disorders of endocrine system. It is neither inflammation nor tumor in nature, but a disorder of normal structure. It usually has typical signs and symptoms and is easy to distinguish. However, sclerosing adenosis often has unclear nodules in the breast, which are small in size and often difficult to distinguish from breast cancer clinically. It should be identified through multiple physical examinations.

3. Breast tuberculosis: It is relatively rare. Its clinical manifestations are inflammatory lesions that can form lumps, but they vary in size. Patients do not necessarily have pulmonary tuberculosis. It is often accompanied by enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Thirty-five percent of patients are difficult to distinguish from cancer clinically.

4. Breast cysts: They can be divided into milk accumulation and blood accumulation. Milk accumulation is more common in women during lactation or pregnancy, and it is not difficult to diagnose based on medical history and physical signs. Blood accumulation is more common in trauma, because the blood accumulation blocks the milk ducts and is not absorbed, forming an inflammatory mass.

5. Plasma cell mastitis: It is often caused by various reasons that lead to the blockage of mammary ducts, resulting in the overflow of fatty substances in the mammary ducts and entering the periductal tissues, causing aseptic inflammation. In the acute phase, sudden breast pain, redness and swelling, nipple inversion, and enlarged axillary lymph nodes may occur, which can be easily misdiagnosed as inflammatory breast cancer. When the localized acute inflammation subsides, there is a lump in the breast, which may adhere to the skin, which can also be misdiagnosed as breast cancer.

6. Breast malignant lymphoma: Rare, accounting for about 0.04% to 0.52% of breast malignant tumors. The most common age is 50 to 60 years old, more common in women, and often single. Clinical manifestations are often rapidly enlarging masses, sometimes occupying the entire breast. The masses are huge or nodular, lobed, with clear boundaries, hard and elastic, and no adhesion to the skin and breast. When the mass is huge, the surface skin is thin, the blood vessels are dilated, and ulcers are caused. Axillary lymph nodes may also be affected at the same time. Clinical diagnosis is often difficult. X-rays are often difficult to distinguish from other malignant tumors, and pathological sections are required to make it clear.