Mr Hazem Khout
Surgery

An expert guide to non-cancerous breast conditions

Written by: Mr Hazem Khout

Published: 01/03/2022 | Updated: 03/10/2023

Edited by: Sophie Kennedy

Changes to the breasts, such as painful lumps or nipple discharge can understandably be a cause for distress and concern. Ruling out cancer is an important stage in the diagnosis of conditions affecting the breast. After this, however, women may need further care to manage pain and other symptoms of non-cancerous breast conditions.

We've invited leading consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon Mr Hazem Khout to offer expert insight on the most common benign conditions of the breast and how lifestyle advice can help women to manage them in this informative article.

What are the symptoms of benign breast conditions?

In terms of benign breast conditions, pain, lumps or a combination of painful lumps are the most common presentations of benign breast conditions, making up around ninety per cent. Sometimes benign conditions can present with nipple discharge or nipple changes.

What are the most common benign breast conditions?

The most common benign breast conditions are benign thickening in the breast due to hormonal changes, cysts or fibroadenomas. Sometimes patients also experience some benign discharge from the nipple, especially those who smoke.

Can some benign breast conditions pose a potential future cancer risk?

This is very rare and doesn't relate to any common benign conditions such as cysts, fibroadenomas, thickening in the breast tissue, infection or discharges.

However, there are very, very few conditions that actually can potentially lead to breast cancer in the future. This, of course, needs to be discussed with surgeons and needs to be examined in the clinic and assessed properly. The patient will be advised on their individual case regarding conditions that could put them at a slightly higher risk of having breast cancer in the future.

Can benign breast conditions be prevented or avoided?

It’s important to understand that benign breast changes are actually part of the ageing process of the breast and as such it is actually very unlikely that we can prevent that. Therefore, for ladies who have cysts, it's difficult to say whether they would have more cysts in the future. The key point here is for the patient to be breast aware and examine herself at least once every month. Should any problems or issues arise, it's important to speak with your GP or breast surgeon.

Can benign breast conditions be painful to live with?

Breast pain is one of the benign conditions that ladies might have to live with. However, there are many things that we can do to relieve that pain. For instance, breast pain caused by hormonal changes can sometimes be relieved by having a full assessment. Therefore the patient can be reassured that what she's complaining of is actually nothing to worry about.

Some studies show that reducing or completely stopping caffeine intake might also improve breast pain. Also, taking evening primrose oil or starflower oil can be helpful. Cysts can also sometimes cause pain on being touched. Seeing a specialist and having an exploration of that cyst can also relieve the pain. It's very important for the patient to be reassured and I find it is a very important factor in reducing the patient’s general discomfort.

How do you help women with benign breast conditions in your clinic?

The priority in the clinic is to make sure that we're not dealing with anything suspicious or cancerous. To rule that out, we conduct a triple assessment, which is the golden standard of testing for breast conditions. That is done by doing an examination, appropriate imaging and then appropriate tissue sampling if needed.

Once we have established that we're dealing with a benign condition, then we can reassure the patient and give them advice about how to deal with these conditions. For example, if the patient is found to have a cyst, we can give long term advice. This can relate to what they should do if such a cyst or lump appeared in the future. Similarly, if the main issue is pain or thickening in the breast tissue, we can go through the examination with the patient and ensure they know how to examine themselves and also how to relieve the pain with simple lifestyle advice.

If you're concerned about having a non-cancerous breast condition, you can book a consultation with Mr Khout by visiting his Top Doctors profile.

By Mr Hazem Khout

Surgery in Nottingham

Mr Hazem Khout is a leading consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon based in Nottingham. His areas of expertise include breast cancer, cosmetic breast surgery, benign breast problems, immediate and delayed breast reconstruction, therapeutic mammoplasty, chest wall flaps and lipofilling. Mr Khout graduated in 1998 and later completed his training in general surgery. He subsequently became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2010, and two years later, he joined the Edinburgh...

By Mr Hazem Khout
Surgery

Mr Hazem Khout is a leading consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon based in Nottingham. His areas of expertise include breast cancer, cosmetic breast surgery, benign breast problems, immediate and delayed breast reconstruction, therapeutic mammoplasty, chest wall flaps and lipofilling.

Mr Khout graduated in 1998 and later completed his training in general surgery. He subsequently became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2010, and two years later, he joined the Edinburgh Breast Unit for one year to obtain his breast oncoplastic fellowship.

Since 2013, Mr Khout has been practising as a consultant breast oncoplastic surgeon. He was appointed at the Nottingham Breast Institute in 2015 and also by the Public Health of England as a professional clinical advisor for the breast screening programme in the East Midlands.

Aside from his consultancy work, Mr Khout has a passion for educating undergraduate and postgraduate trainees, and by 2010, he was a fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. Additionally, he holds research interests in the areas of new technologies for oncoplastic breast surgery, breast care genetics and breast cancer survivorship.

Mr Khout is the co-founder of the Nottingham Breast care clinic (NBC) at Nottingham Spire Hospital. He also leads on several projects at NHS and private sector including the unique Oncoplastic Forum (OPF) at the Nottingham Breast Institute. The project aims to deliver a patient-centred care by offering each patient with the utmost personalised care surgical plan.

Mr Khout works within a team of oncoplastic and plastic surgeons, advanced breast practitioners and specialist breast nurses in his private practice based at Spire Nottingham.