Mastalgia-Cancer Relationship: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Objective: Mastalgia is an important symptom affecting approximately 70% of women and it disrupts the quality of life especially due to the worry of having cancer. In our study, the type and severity of mastalgia symptom of patients who presented to the outpatient clinic with mastalgia complaint were assessed along with their physical examination findings and radiology results. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the relationship between mastalgia and malignity when assessed in combination with the risk factors of patients. Materials and Methods:The age, family history, menopausal status, age at the first childbirth, menarche, presence/absence of hormone replacement therapy, type of mastalgia, comorbidities and examination findings of 104 patients, who presented to the General Surgery outpatient clinic with mastalgia symptom, were recorded and assessed in the light of radiological study results.Results: With respect to the mastalgia types of the patients, 38.5% had cyclic pain, 57.7% non-cyclic pain and 3.8% other types of pain. Mild mastalgia was present in 46.2% of the patients, moderate mastalgia in 24% and severe mastalgia in 29.8% of them. According to the BIRADS category, 48.1% of the patients were identified to have BIRADS 1 mass lesions, 39.4% BIRADS 2, 9.6% BIRADS 3 and 2.9% BIRADS 5 mass lesions. The patients who were identified to have BIRADS 5 mass lesions described non-cyclic and severe pain in the post-menopausal period. They had palpable masses along with the pain symptom. Conclusion:Our study suggests that mastalgia symptom does not per se result in suspicion of malignancy, but physical examination and radiological imaging should also be used as needed for confirmation. Studies with a larger patient population are needed to shed light on the mastalgia epidemiology and its relationship with cancer.

Effects of sagging breasts and other risk factors associated with mastalgia: a case–control study

“…Cancer-related mastalgia is rare. It is seen as unilateral and well localized, not associated with the menstrual cycle 7 , 8 . Along with smoking, excessive caffeine intake, obesity, alcohol consumption, pregnancy, mastitis, trauma, canal ectasia, macrocysts of the breast, and benign tumors can also cause mastalgia 8 – 10 .…”

BIRADS ecográfico en mujeres con o sin mastalgia

“…Los estudios retrospectivos de Yıldırım y col. (14) y Khan y col. (15) de 5 463 pacientes, investigaron la asociación entre mastalgia y cáncer de mama; no encontraron asociación.…”

Vitamin E versus Evening Primrose Oil versus Placebo for the Treatment of Cyclic Mastalgia: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The enrolled patients were asked to record their breast pain using a daily chart of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (0 = no pain; 10 = worst pain) as shown in figure (1). The sum of the daily VAS within a menstrual cycle was considered as the breast pain chart as shown in figure (2). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Figure (1): Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) [3] .…”

“…It is important to rule out extra-mammary sources of pain such Tietze syndrome or transferred pain. Severe mastalgia has a major impact on women's daily activities [2] . Numerous illnesses, including stress, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, and various mental disorders, have been linked to mastalgia, which may indicate a psychosomatic basis or multifactorial aetiology [3] .…”