Evaluation and management of breast pain

Robin L. Smith, Sandhya Pruthi, Lorraine A. Fitzpatrick
Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2004 · vol. 79(3) , pp. 353–372 · doi:10.4065/79.3.353 · PMID:15008609 · W1999836327
Review OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 4 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This paper reviews the current understanding of breast pain causes, diagnostic approaches, and various management strategies, from lifestyle modifications to pharmacological interventions.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Pain is one of the most common breast symptoms experienced by women. It can be severe enough to interfere with usual daily activities, but the etiology and optimal treatment remain undefined. Breast pain is typically approached according to its classification as cyclic mastalgia, noncyclic mastalgia, and extramammary (nonbreast) pain. Cyclic mastalgia is breast pain that has a clear relationship to the menstrual cycle. Noncyclic mastalgia may be constant or intermittent but is not associated with the menstrual cycle and often occurs after menopause. Extramammary pain arises from the chest wall or other sources and is interpreted as having a cause within the breast. The risk of cancer in a woman presenting with breast pain as her only symptom is extremely low. After appropriate clinical evaluation, most patients with breast pain respond favorably to a combination of reassurance and nonpharmacological measures. The medications danazol, tamoxifen, and bromocriptine are effective; however, the potentially serious adverse effects of these medications limit their use to selected patients with severe, sustained breast pain. The status of other therapeutic strategies and directions for future research are discussed.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

MeSH descriptors

Breast Diseases Breast Diseases Pain Pain Management Breast Diseases Breast Diseases Breast Diseases Breast Neoplasms Breast Neoplasms Breast Neoplasms Chest Pain Chest Pain Diagnosis, Differential Female Humans Menstrual Cycle Menstrual Cycle Pain Pain Pain

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (100)

Cited by (2)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-05-11T05:56:47.744056+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:02:24.140261+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK