Breast masses in African American teenage girls

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of malignancy in breast lumps excised from African American teenagers.

The authors reviewed the pathology records at King's County Hospital Center between January 1982 and December 1992. The pathology reports and charts of all patients who had breast masses excised during this period were reviewed. Data for this study were derived from the group of African American and black Caribbean American teenage patients who underwent breast biopsies and whose pathology reports and medical records were available. The age of patients, size of the lesion, and diagnosis were recorded.

Medical records from 155 African American and black Caribbean American girls between the ages of 13 and 19 years (inclusive) who underwent breast biopsies between January 1982 and December 1992 were reviewed. Fibroadenoma was the most common diagnosis (127 of 155; 82%). This was followed in frequency by fibrocystic mastopathy (18 of 155; 11.6%) and breast abscess (3 of 155; 2%). None of the patients had a malignancy. Review of tumor registry data from the same time period at Kings County Hospital Center and the University Hospital of Brooklyn showed that the youngest African American or black Caribbean American patient diagnosed with breast cancer was 21 years of age.

The incidence of malignant breast lumps in African American and black Caribbean American teenagers is distinctly low. Conservative treatment in this population is warranted, and diagnosis can be made easily in most cases with either needle aspiration for cytology or core biopsy of any lesions discovered.