Atypical hyperplasia of the breast

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Definition

Sometimes, when doctors perform a biopsy to check for breast cancer, they don't find it. But they may find a condition that may be a sign that you're at increased risk of developing breast cancer in the future. One such breast finding is a condition called atypical hyperplasia, in which too many cells line the wall of a milk duct or lobule and no longer look like normal cells.

Atypical hyperplasia is generally regarded as a precancerous condition. It isn't cancer, but it can be a forerunner to the development of cancer. Over the course of your lifetime, if the cells keep dividing and become more abnormal, the condition is reclassified as carcinoma in situ or noninvasive cancer.

If you have atypical hyperplasia, your risk of eventually developing breast cancer is about four to six times greater than is the risk for a woman who doesn't have the condition.

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