A common fear of people experiencing a change in their breasts is that they have cancer, especially because many benign changes mimic symptoms of breast cancer. However, benign breast changes encompass several different conditions, including trauma, breast pain, infection, skin changes, nipple discharge, and tumors.

These changes are often associated with fluctuations in estrogen, which may explain why they are more common in persons of childbearing age. Nurses play a role in educating the person on the difference between their diagnosis and breast cancer.

benign breast changes — umbrella term that encompasses several different noncancerous conditions that occur in the breast tissue, including trauma, breast pain, infection, skin changes, nipple…. change in their breasts — that they have cancer, especially because many benign changes mimic symptoms of breast cancer. lumpectomy — surgical procedure that removes the tumor, a small ring of healthy tissue around the tumor (to ensure that all cancer cells are removed) and, possibly, some axillary lymph nodes. calcification — calcium deposit found in the breast tissue that is usually benign but can sometimes indicate an early breast cancer.