Q: Which doctor should I consult for mastocytosis?
A: You should consult your family physician when you notice symptoms of rash or other allergy on your skin or breathlessness and diarrhea. Based on the symptoms and age, your doctor will recommend the necessary diagnostic tests.
Q: What are the other names of mastocytosis?
A: Mastocytosis is known by other names, such as cutaneous mastocytosis; systemic mastocytosis; mastocytosis cutaneous with short stature conductive hearing loss and microtia; and systemic mast cell disease.
Q: What is aggressive systemic mastocytosis?
A: Aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM) is a subtype of SM associated with organ dysfunction besides skin and rapid disease progression. Overall survival of individuals with ASM is a little over 3 years.
Q: Is mastocytosis a cancer?
A: Systemic mastocytosis can become cancer in approximately 7 percent of childhood cases and upto 30 percent of adult cases.
Q: What are the rare forms of systemic mastocytosis?
A: Mast cell sarcoma and mast cell leukemia are very rare forms of systemic mastocytosis.
Q: Is mastocytosis hereditary?
A: Mastocytosis develops due to mutations in the KITgene. However, the mutations are not inherited and is not passed from one generation to the next.
