Question:

In the breast, lactiferous ducts are formed under the influence of which hormone?

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Ducts versus lobules - one steroid grows the ducts, the other the alveoli.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
  • Estrogen
  • Progesterone
  • LH
  • FSH
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Breast development is hormonally divided: estrogen drives the ductal system, while progesterone drives the lobular and alveolar (glandular) system.

Step 2: Estrogen stimulates growth and branching of the lactiferous ducts during puberty and pregnancy. So the formation of lactiferous ducts is attributed to estrogen.

Step 3: Progesterone, acting after estrogen has primed the ducts, promotes development of the mammary lobules and alveoli that later secrete milk. It is not the duct-forming hormone.

Step 4: LH and FSH are pituitary gonadotropins that act on the ovary; they influence the breast only indirectly through ovarian steroid output and do not directly form ducts. Hence the answer is estrogen.
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