Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy (differential)

Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy while being more concerning than bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy can still arise from a various benign as well as malignant causes.

Benign

• mastitis
• other regional infective causes
  • tuberculosis
  • ipsilateral arm infection, e.g. cellulitis
• silicone induced granulomatous adenitis

Malignant

• metastasis from breast malignancy
• metastasis from non breast malignancies
  • melanoma: a relatively common non-breast primary malignancy to present with axillary lymphadenopathy
  • primary malignancy in ipsilateral arm
• lymphoma: can occasionally be unilateral

See also

• differential diagnosis of bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy
• calcific axillary lymphadenopathy
• axillary lymph nodes