What does leakage of blood from one's breast usually indicate?

Molly

Leakage of blood from one's breasts is never normal (with the possible exception of bleeding from cracked nipples as a consequence of nursing) and must be investigated by a doctor. Only 25 percent of the time is a bloody nipple discharge due to cancer, but that possibility must always be excluded by a thorough exam, mammogram and possibly "ductogram" (an X-ray test in which dye is injected into the duct from which blood is coming). A biopsy *must* be done whenever bloody leakage is noted. You should consult either a general surgeon or a breast surgeon. Do not put this off!

One benign condition that may produce a bloody nipple discharge is "intraductal papillomas," in which cells that line the mammary ducts grow in a frond-like manner and may bleed; 20-50 percent of women with this condition have a blood-tinged nipple discharge. Intraductal papillomas are more common in women over age 40. If these papillomas contain atypical (not quite normal-looking) cells, there is an increased potential for developing a true breast cancer.