Unlike typical lumps from breast cancer, fibroadenomas are easy to move, with clearly defined edges.
[7] The diagnostic findings on needle biopsy consist of abundant stromal cells, which appear as bare bipolar nuclei, throughout the aspirate; sheets of fairly uniform-size epithelial cells that are typically arranged in either an antler-like pattern or a honeycomb pattern.
[9] Fibroadenoma of the breast is a benign tumor composed of a biplastic proliferation of both stromal and epithelial components.
[2][14][9] Furthermore, the epithelial proliferation appears in a single terminal ductal unit and describes duct-like spaces surrounded by a fibroblastic stroma.
[8] Suspicious findings on imaging may result in a person needing a biopsy in order to gain a definitive diagnosis.
[19] Monitoring fibroadenomas involves regular check-ups to make sure that the breast mass is not growing and is not potentially cancerous.
[20] They are removed with a small margin of normal breast tissue if the preoperative clinical investigations are suggestive of the necessity of this procedure.
A small amount of normal tissue must be removed in case the lesion turns out to be a phyllodes tumour on microscopic examination.
[24] The FDA approved cryoablation of a fibroadenoma as a safe, effective, and minimally-invasive alternative to open surgical removal in 2001.
[citation needed] The American Society of Breast Surgeons recommends the following criteria to establish a patient as a candidate for cryoablation of a fibroadenoma:[25] High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a newer technique for the treatment of malignant and benign tumors of the breast and has shown promising results in the form of complete radiological removal of tumors.
[27] An ultrasound beam is focused on a target in the breast and leads to tissue death and protein degradation by raising the temperature in that area.
[29] Body mass index and the number of full-term pregnancies were found to have a negative correlation with the risk of fibroadenomas.