Dr. Susan Love answers the question: 'Difference between cyst and tumor?'
Question: What is the difference between a cyst and a cancerous tumor?
Answer: A cyst is a fluid-filled sac that develops in the breast. They're most common in women as they're heading towards menopause and they can be easily detected by ultrasound and easily cured by puncturing them with a needle and then sucking the fluid out. Cancer on the other hand is a hard lump of cancerous tissue. It has no fluid in it, when you look at it in ultrasound it looks solid, and when you do a biopsy of it with a needle you take out a core of tissue that can be looked at under the microscope.
So they're very different, however, they often occur in the same age group, so any lump needs to be checked out.
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