Paget's disease of the nipple is otherwise known as Paget's nipple cancer. It is a rare type of breast cancer and is often confused with dermatological conditions, which delays early diagnosis and recovery. What are the causes and symptoms of Paget's breast cancer? How is the treatment going?

Paget's disease of the nipple( Paget's nipple cancer ) is cancer of the exit ducts. It is a rare form of breast cancer - it accounts for 0.5-5 percent. these tumors. The disease usually affects postmenopausal women (very rarely men), and the diagnosis is most often heard by women aged 60-70 years. Interestingly, most cases of the disease occur in women who have never been pregnant.

Paget's disease of the nipple (Paget's breast cancer) - causes

Paget's breast cancer usually accompanies another neoplastic lesion of the breast. Doctors suspect that in Paget's breast cancer cells migrate from the cancer to the epidermis of the nipple through the milk ducts.

The second theory assumes neoplastic transformationin situkeratinocytes of the nipple (nipple epidermal cells), i.e. cells that function properly so far begin to divide abnormally, which leads to the development of a tumor.

Paget's disease of the nipple (Paget's breast cancer) - symptoms

At the top of the nipple, then around the areola, there is redness and an eczema-like lesion. It has an irregular shape and rises above the epidermis.

Early symptoms of the disease include leakage, redness, or a crust on the nipple

The patient often feels tingling, itching or a burning pain in the nipple and its areola. In addition, purulent or bloody discharge may flow from the nipple. In the advanced stage of the disease, the nipple and its areola are retracted, ulcerated and destroyed. In 33-50 percent. cases, during a hand examination of the breast, a tumor is found in the area of ​​the mammary gland.

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Paget's disease of the nipple (Paget's breast cancer) - diagnosis

The basic method of diagnosis of Paget's breast cancer is histopathological examinationa segment taken from the nipple. In the laboratory, very characteristic cancer cells, the so-called Paget cells. If the changes on the nipple are accompanied by a tumor, imaging tests (mammography, breast ultrasound) and fine-needle breast biopsy are additionally performed.

Unfortunately, cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage because doctors mistake it for dermatological diseases. They prescribe topical steroid ointments, which may cause the lesion to regress temporarily. Then the diagnosis of cancer can be delayed for up to a year.

Changes in the nipple should be differentiated by the physician from contact eczema, nipple adenoma, dilated ducts, papilloma, basal cell carcinoma, Bowen's disease and melanoma.

Paget's disease of the nipple (Paget's breast cancer) - treatment

Normally, the entire breast is removed (mastectomy) according to the Madden method (the pectoral muscle is left as large and small as possible). If the changes concern only the nipple (there is no tumor in the glandular tissue), conserving treatment can be applied, i.e. removal of the nipple areola in whole or in part with the lesion within he althy tissues. In addition, radio- chemotherapy or hormone therapy may be necessary.

Paget's disease of the nipple (Paget's breast cancer) - prognosis

The prognosis depends primarily on whether there is a tumor in the breast. If so, 5-year survival is 60%. If the disease is confined to the wart, the prognosis is very good: the chance of 5-year survival is 75-90%.

Category:

Oncology