Objective: Breast intraductal papillary tumors are clinically common diseases derived from the ducts. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of intraductal papillary tumors and risk factors for carcinogenesis. Methods: The clinicopathological data of 674 patients with breast intraductal papillary tumors, who underwent surgery in the National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2010 to July 2015, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The median follow-up time was 46 months. The 674 cases were classified into 547 intraductal papilloma, 88 cases of intraductal papillary carcinoma, 32 cases of intracystic papillary carcinoma, and 7 cases of solid papillary carcinoma of breast. After a median follow-up time of 46 months, 13 out of 547 (2.4%) intraductal papillomas had local recurrence in the original dissected quadrat, another 10 cases developed breast cancer in the original dissected quadrat. The 3-year recurrence-free survival rates in intraductal papilloma and intraductal papilloma accompanied with atypical ductal hyperplasia were 97.7% and 93.5%, respectively, the recurrence-free survival curves showed a significant difference (P=0.011). Multivariate analysis indicated that atypical ductal hyperplasia was a major prognostic factor affecting the recurrence-free survival of intraductal papilloma (RR=0.183, 95%CI=0.054 to 0.777, P=0.020). Four cases (3.1%) of intraductal papillary carcinoma had local recurrence. The logistic analysis showed that patient aged >45 years, clinical manifestations of a breast lump, maximum tumor diameter greater than 2 cm are possible clinical manifestation of malignant breast intraductal papillary tumors (RR=1.735, 95%CI=1.007-2.990, P=0.047; RR=2.849, 95%CI=1.207-6.711, P=0.017; RR=3.792, 95%CI=2.162-6.653, P<0.001). Conclusions: Intraductal papillary tumors have a certain recurrence rate. Age, clinical features and tumor size may be predictive factors of intraductal papillary carcinoma.