Accessory Breasts (women)

[jingjingna]

Well, yes I am a big booby woman and I have two accessory breasts under the arm pits. The question is do I remove them for the sake of getting rid of this excess luggage ( no, the growths are not that big!) or do I just leave them be..and do regular mammograms? Sometimes my armpits can be painful but not enough to go under the knife for.

If I do have them removed what are the chances of these things growing back again?

My mother was diagnosed with cancer some six years ago which started as a 'cyst' under her left arm pit.

What the Docs here are saying is that what I have is non-related (to my mother) and regular mammo's show no cause for concern.

So take em'off or not is the question....beauty doesn't come into the equation.

Cheers and Merry Christmas to all!

[FBN]

The presence of supernumerary breast tissue indicates incomplete involution of the milk line, resulting in the formation of accessory mammary tissue from the redundant clusters of ectopic primordial breast cells. This occurs in 2-6% of females and 1-3% of males. Approximately one third of affected individuals have more than one site of supernumerary breast tissue development. Most of this accessory breast tissue has no physiologic significance, but some may enlarge with the onset of puberty, pregnancy, or lactation, and can be the site of breast carcinoma.

Approximately 67% of accessory breast tissue occurs in the thoracic or abdominal portions of the milk line, often just below the inframammary crease and more often on the left side of the body. Another 20% occurs in the axilla. The remaining locations include anywhere along the milk line or in the buttock, back, face, and neck. Supernumerary tissue present in any location other than along the milk line represents a migratory arrest of breast primordium during chest wall development

The above quote is from the article that can be found at: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1275146-overview

I am sure you may have read all there is about your condition but it is a very interesting ( please pardon the expression!!) condition, from a medical perspective.

Normally, the indication for removal of these accessory breasts is at puberty. This is "normal" breast tissue and is therefore also subject to the development of breast carcinoma. Breast carcinoma affects 10% of US females and this particular condition affects 2-6% of women. It has significant implications.

Mammography may not be reliable as a screening tool in your case as the equipment is not designed to be applied to any other location than the usual.

If removed, they will not re-appear; as with a usual matectomy op.

You may consider surgical intervention here given the risks involved with breast ca but do so with proper consultation with qualified surgeons.