DEAR DR. ROACH: I always have had small breasts. Suddenly, in my mid-70s, my breasts grew, and now at 80 I have outgrown most of my clothes. My doctor said that it is fat, but I have gained only a few pounds. Could this be hormonal? Have you addressed this issue before? — S.F.

ANSWER: I haven’t addressed this before. Breasts change size during a woman’s life for many reasons. Breast tissue is a mixture of fat and glandular tissue.

For young women, there’s proportionally more glandular tissue, the amount of which tends to decrease over time. After menopause, the breasts become less glandular; what is lost is replaced by fat, as there is less estrogen.

About 20 percent of women will notice significantly larger breasts after menopause; however, this usually occurs along with overall weight gain. Significant breast enlargement without much weight gain is not common in my experience.

Hopefully, your doctor did a thorough examination. However, I think it is very unlikely that your breast size changes represent a tumor. Very rarely, there are estrogen-producing tumors, so if there were other reasons to be concerned, your doctor might check blood levels of hormones, including estrogen.