Analysis of benign breast lesions in blacks

Abstract

A clinicopathologic analysis of 202 benign breast lesions in black women is presented. The study shows that the peak incidence of fibroadenoma occurs at an earlier age in black than in white patients. Fibrocystic disease is most frequent in both black and white patients between 25 and 45 years of age. It is noteworthy that nulliparous adolescent blacks have a higher risk of fibroadenoma developing and our findings confirm the observation made by Funderburk et al [5] and Nigro and Organ [6] that the incidence of fibroadenoma in blacks is high. The low incidence of fibrocystic disease in our patients does not reflect the clinical incidence of the disease because most patients with fibrocystic disease do not undergo biopsy. We are unable to draw any conclusions about the relation between the use of oral contraceptives and the incidence of benign breast disease. In conclusion, a review of the literature and an analysis of our data suggest a relatively higher incidence of fibroadenoma among black patients. In contrast to the finding in the white population, it appears that in blacks fibroadenoma is more common than carcinoma of the breast.