[Axillary ectopic breast tissue fibroadenoma: report of three cases and review of the literature].

Background: Ninety-five percent of women have mammary tissue at the axilla. However, the fibroadenoma seldom occur in this area and there are only isolated case reports of this tumor. This paper presents a series of three cases of this rare entity.

Cases Report: Three women came to our hospital by axillary lumps. The patients had a median age of 36 +/- 9-years-old with an average time of evolution of 34 +/- 53 months. One patient had the history of a breast phyllodes tumor previously excised, and two were nulliparous. In two cases, neither ultrasound nor mammogram gave useful information for its diagnosis. Mammary glands of all cases were normal. The tumors were firm and movable, similar to a lymphadenopathy, and one was evident. The mean tumor size was 28 +/- 18 mm; all were oval and with white appearance. Histological diagnosis for all cases was fibroadenoma. Our findings match with literature reports.

Conclusions: The axillary fibroadenomas may occur in women aged 30 to 50-years-old, mimicking a lymphadenopathy. Finally, the ultrasound and the mammography are not useful tools for its diagnosis.