Fibroadenomas: a multidisciplinary review of the variants

Fibroadenomas are the most common benign breast lesions in women. Hormonal activities, particularly an increase in oestrogenic activity, have an important role in the aetiology of fibroadenomas. They are commonly detected incidentally. Most fibroadenomas have similar imaging findings and these lesions can be defined as simple fibroadenomas (SFAs). However, due to different histopathologic characteristics and components, variants of fibroadenomas have been described. These variants include; juvenile, giant, complex, myxoid, cellular, and hyalinised fibroadenomas. The diagnoses of these variants are important. They have different clinical behaviours, potential for malignant transformation, and treatment strategies. We present imaging findings of SFAs and other variants of fibroadenomas. To our knowledge, there is no review in which imaging findings of all fibroadenoma variants are presented together.