What is atypical hyperplasia?
Hyperplasia is the first type of abnormality in a cell’s appearance. It means that there are more cells than you would expect to see in the walls of the ducts or lobules, but that all of these cells appear normal. A diagnosis of hyperplasia does not put you at any increased risk for developing breast cancer. Atypia means that the cells look different from normal cells, but that they don’t have all the features of cancer cells. You can have atypia with hyperplasia, which means that the cells look different from normal and that there are more cells than you would expect to see. You can also have atypia without having hyperplasia. The terms ductal and lobular indicate where the cells originated. Ductal means that the unusual cells are in the ducts, the passages that the milk travels through to get to the nipple. Lobular means that the unusual cells are in the lobules, the parts of the breast capable of making milk. Atypia and hyperplasia are thought to be reversible, although it isn’t cle
