However, when they are deeply imbedded in breast tissue, a cyst will feel like a hard lump because is covered with tissue. Your physician may identify a lump as a cyst by physical examination, but many physicians confirm the diagnosis by mammography or ultrasound examination. The physician may then perform a fine-needle aspiration as the next step in diagnosing the cyst. This procedure involves guiding a very fine needle into the cyst and drawing fluid from it. This procedure also serves as the treatment for this condition, as once the cyst is aspirated, it collapses and disappears.
Cysts can reappear at a later date, in which case they are simply drained again.
Cysts are seldom malignant. Fibroadenomas are solid, smooth, firm, benign lumps that are most commonly found in women in their late teens and early twenties. They are the most common benign lumps that occur in women and can occur in women of any age. Increasingly, they are being seen in postmenopausal women who are taking hormone replacement therapy. Fibroadenomas occur twice as often in African-American women as in other American women.