Bibliogr. s. 35-36

Mastopathy (mastopathia fibroso-cystica) and breast cancer are two major epidemiologic, economic and medical problems of women. In Poland, annually, 0.2-1.6 billion Polish zlotys is spent on diagnosis and treatment of mastopathy; half of that sum is spent improperly. Many papers suggest relationships between these two diseases, however, it is not certain, whether, or how much, mastopathy increases breast cancer incidence. The available papers from the recent years indicate increased risk, but the methodology of these data is not perfect. It is not excluded that fibrocystic diseases of the breast increase breast cancer incidence. If such an influence exists, independent of other well-know factors, it is probably very small. Moreover, due to the diversity of medical information there is a lack of diagnostic and therapeutic standards in mastopathy. Different types of scans, hormonal, biochemical and immunohistochemical examinations are performed improperly, and there has been no genetic analysis of mastopathy. Therefore, there is a strong need of wellplanned, prospective trials in this field.