What are breast lumps?

A breast lump is a localized swelling, protuberance, bulge, or bump in the breast that feels different from the breast tissue around it or the breast tissue in the same area of the other breast.

There are different reasons why breast lumps develop.

Causes include infection, trauma, fibroadenoma, cyst, fat necrosis, or fibrocystic breasts. Breast lumps may develop in both males and females but are more commonly trusted sources in females. Some lumps are cancerous, but most are not.

In this article, we look at the different types of breast lumps and how they might appear.

While this can help a person understand if a lump is likely to be cancerous, people should always seek advice for an unexplained breast lump. Some noncancerous lumps need treatment, and breast cancer does not appear in the same way for everyone.

Possible causes of breast lumps include:

• cysts
• abscesses, which can indicate an infection, such as mastitis
• fibroadenoma
• intraductal papillomas
• lipoma