Fibro-adenoma of the breast

A retrospective study of 134 patients with a clinical diagnosis of fibro-adenoma of the breast indicated that histological confirmation of this diagnosis is made in only 50 per cent. The majority of the others have a diagnosis of benign mammary dysplasia. Eight patients had an unsuspected carcinoma, all but one being above the mean age for the fibro-adenoma group. The natural history of fibro-adenoma is not known precisely. In view of the high sensitivity of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of malignant disease, we believe that there is justification to carry out a prospective study to determine this. In this study women with a clinical diagnosis of fibro-adenoma will be carefully observed provided they are less than 35 years of age and fine-needle aspiration cytology reveals no malignant cells.