Benign breast disease (BBD) means a breast disorder that is not cancerous and is usually not life threatening. A malignant disease is cancerous. Benign does not mean the disease is painless or that tissue damage does not occur from abnormal growth that crushes healthy tissue. Types of benign breast disease include:
Early Breast Cancer is usually painless
- Mastalgia, breast pain from hormonal changes
- Fibrocystic breast disease
- Mastitis from infections, such as thrush in nursing mothers
- Sclerosing adenosis, hardened breast glands
- Fatty necrosis, scar tissue that replaces injured breast fat
- Galactorrhea, abnormal milk production
- Noncancerous breast tumors
- Gynecomastia, female breast growth in males
