Fibroadenomas are the commonest palpable lumps in young women between the ages of 15-30 years. They are solid lumps that arise from a breast lobule and are therefore under the same hormonal influence as the rest of the breast. They are therefore affected by pregnancy and lactation. They are usually firm, smooth, rubbery and mobile and sometimes multiple. In elderly patients they can appear as calcified shadows on mammography.

The diagnosis of fibroadenomas is made by a combination of clinical examination, ultrasound and fine needle aspiration cytology and/or core biopsy. Confirmed fibroadenomas in women under the age of 40 can be safely left alone to observation or excised by choice.

About a third of fibroadenomas would reduce in size or disappear over a 2-year period of observation while less than 10% would increase in size. Large ones above 4 cm in size should be excised as well as fibroadenomas in women over the age of 40.