Explaining the top common questions about mastocytosis

  Mammary hyperplasia is the most common breast disease in women, with onset mostly in the age of 30-50 years, and rare in adolescence and post-menopause. It is one of the main diseases plaguing women at present, accounting for the first place in the number of outpatient breast diseases. The onset of mastocytosis is mainly related to endocrine disorders, especially the imbalance of estrogen and progesterone ratio, which leads to cyclical hyperplasia and incomplete restoration of the breast, and structural disorders. Sometimes mastocytosis is easily confused with breast cancer, so it is very important to understand this disease correctly.  Most patients have cyclic breast pain, especially before menstruation, and the symptoms decrease or disappear after menstruation. In a few patients, the pain radiates to the axillae, neck and shoulders. In patients with a long history, the symptoms lose their regularity. The patient’s symptoms are not proportional to the degree of breast enlargement, and may be aggravated or attacked by the patient’s emotion, work, study, or suggestion. The lesions may be bilateral or unilateral, mostly in the upper quadrant, with nodular, lamellar or striated masses with unclear borders, tough and movable, and clear or yellowish nipple discharge in a few patients. Nodules are predominant in young people, lamellar masses and large lamellar thickening are predominant in middle-aged women, and striated thickening is more common in middle-aged and older women. In severe cases, the lesion may diffuse throughout the breast. Pain, pressure and lump formation are the three main symptoms of this disease. However, not all symptoms are present, and lesions can be mixed.  Based on the symptoms and signs of breast hyperplasia, combined with ultrasound, infrared and other examination methods, the diagnosis of breast hyperplasia is generally not difficult. It is generally believed that most patients with breast hyperplasia have a low chance of developing breast cancer, except for highly hyperplastic breast epithelium, or atypical hyperplasia, but it is important to be alert to the fact that both can co-exist. Therefore, patients with significant lumps of limited breast hyperplasia should be reviewed regularly (once every 3 months, about a week after menstruation). If necessary, breast radiographs and puncture biopsies may also be performed to supplement the diagnosis.