What is intraductal papilloma?

The mammary gland is the foundation of a woman's firm breasts and the most important part of a woman's breast health. Generally speaking, breast diseases are mainly caused by the mammary gland, which is composed of countless ducts. It can be said that the mammary gland is a complex and delicate network. There are many breast diseases, among which intraductal papilloma is a relatively rare disease. Let’s take a look at what intraductal papilloma is. Let’s take a look at the brief introduction below.

Intraductal papilloma and intraductal papillary carcinoma : Both can cause spontaneous, painless bloody nipple discharge; both can feel a lump in the areola, and when the lump is pressed, bloody fluid can overflow from the opening of the milk duct. Since the clinical manifestations and morphological features of the two are very similar, the differential diagnosis between the two is very difficult.

It is generally believed that the discharge from intraductal papilloma can be bloody , serous, or serous; while the discharge from papillary carcinoma is more common in the bloody form and is usually unilateral and single-hole. The lumps of papilloma are mostly located in the areola area, with a soft texture and a size no larger than 1 cm. There is no enlargement of the ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. However, the lumps of papillary carcinoma are mostly located outside the areola area, with a hard texture, a rough surface, poor mobility, and easy adhesion to the skin. The lumps are generally larger than 1 cm, and enlarged lymph nodes can be seen in the ipsilateral axillary.

Mammary ductography shows that the duct is suddenly interrupted , the broken end is smooth and cup-shaped, the proximal duct shows obvious dilatation, sometimes with a round or oval filling defect, and the duct is soft and smooth, which is mostly intraductal papilloma. If the broken end is not neat, the proximal duct is slightly dilated, twisted, disordered, with a filling defect or complete obstruction, the duct loses its natural softness and becomes stiff, etc., it is mostly intraductal carcinoma.

Fluid smear cytology examination of papillary carcinoma can find cancer cells. The final diagnosis is based on pathological diagnosis, and paraffin sections should be performed to avoid false negative or false positive results due to the limitations of frozen sections.