Diabetic mastopathy is an uncommon fibrous breast condition that sometimes occurs in patients who have had diabetes for a long time. The lumps are easily moveable and are not affixed to the skin. Lumps may appear in one breast or both breasts. Diabetic mastopathy usually affects women with type 1 diabetes. The condition has also been observed in women with type 2 diabetes or other forms of diabetes and in women with other endocrine diseases, particularly thyroid diseases.
Signs and symptoms of Diabetic Mastopathy are following:
- Diabetic mastopathy is characterized by hard, irregularly shaped, painless lumps that appear in one or both breasts and can affect males and females. The fibrocytic breast lumps are easily moveable and are not affixed to the skin. The growths also tend to reoccur after surgery, and sometimes increase in size.
- The lumps characteristic of diabetic mastopathy are benign (non-cancerous). They can appear similar in size, shape and texture to malignant (cancerous) breast lumps. For this reason, diabetes patients who find breast lumps, even if they have a history of diabetic mastopathy, should schedule an examination with their physician.
- The breast lesions may not be palpable in some patients. Patients with diabetic mastopathy who have had insulin-requiring diabetes for a long time (15 years) commonly have other diabetes complications as well (e.g., thyroid, eye, and joint involvement).
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