Some women have these fibroadenomas removed. In other women they shrink at menopause. Most of the changes, soreness, and lumps women experience in their breasts are not cancer. This is why it is important to know what your breasts feel like by examining them regularly. If you know that they tend to be sore or lumpy at certain times of the month, or that you have a fibroadenoma, you will know what is normal for you, and what is unusual.
Breast cancer is rare in young women.
The risk does increase with age, and a woman should start having regular mammograms when she is 40 years old. A mammogram can detect cancer before you can feel it, when it is most treatable. Breast cancer, when detected early is one of the most curable forms of cancer. The fact is, a woman's risk of dying from heart disease is much greater than her risk of dying from breast cancer. And although breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, more women die from lung and colorectal cancer than breast.