Which of the following conditions is associated with increased risk of breast cancer?

C. Atypical hyperplasia.

DISCUSSION: Fibrocystic mastopathy, or fibrocystic disease, was once thought to increase the risk of breast cancer; however, later studies of the pathologic findings in fibrocystic complex found an increased cancer risk only for patients whose biopsies showed atypical hyperplasia. “Severe hyperplasia” is a pathologic term that refers to the amount of hyperplasia and is frequently seen in the biopsy specimens of young women; it is a misleading term and is not associated with a disease risk. Papillomatosis is also part of the fibrocystic complex and is a frequent finding in benign breast biopsies; it does not confer an increased risk of cancer.