Sorry this is so long!
I have had two excisional biopsies to remove two large breast masses.
The first lump was suspicious but turned out to be a fibroadenoma. I had it removed in April. I found a second large lump mid May and just had it removed in late June.
I had my post op appointment today and it came back that this lump was actually a phyllodes tumor. The surgeon told me these are extremely rare, especially for my age (I'm only 18.) He said they need to go back in and remove more tissue to make sure they got it all so it doesn't spread or come back.
On the results paper it said there was "stromal overgrowth." I researched phyllodes tumors and it said that stromal overgrowth means its not benign.
The surgeon didn't say anything about it being malignant so I'm assuming its not but he also didn't say anything about it being benign. Does this mean it could be borderline?
Any information at all about phyllodes tumors in general would be greatly appreciated.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
You shouldn't worry too much about the term "Stromal overgrowth". The stromal overgrowth may just as well have been mentioned by the pathologist to explain why he/she classifies the lump as a phyllodes tumour instead of a fibroadenoma.
The appearance of the cells that form the stroma is much more important. In an entirely benign phyllodes tumour, the stromal cells look more or less the same, And there are very few mitoses (If any).
Also the appearance of the border of the tumour is important when determining if it is benign or malignant. The border is usually well defined in a benign phyllodes tumour.
So in short - The information we have is not enough to classify the tumour as borderline or malignant.
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