Diabetic mastopathy: A 'masquerader' of breast cancer. A report of two cases

In 1984, Soler and Khadori described a clinicopathological entity of fibrous breast masses associated with lymphocytic inflammation among patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and secondary diabetic complications. Whether an autoimmune process is responsible for these changes remains controversial. A suspicion of malignancy results in numerous diagnostic procedures which are unnecessary and costly for the patient. The medical records of two patients diagnosed with diabetic mastopathy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center were studied. After thorough diagnostic work-ups, multiple biopsies, and immunohistochemical analysis of pathologic specimens, both patients were diagnosed with diabetic mastopathy. Patients with diabetic mastopathy will present as premenopausal women with a long history of poorly controlled insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. While mammographic studies reveal no evidence of malignant transformation, the diagnosis of diabetic mastopathy is histologically determined after excisional or core biopsy. When this benign clinical entity is encountered, we recommend a screening mammogram and excisional or core biopsy for histological diagnosis followed by annual mammograms and breast examinations.