What is Paget’s Disease?
Paget Disease of the Breast
Paget disease of the breast is a rare type of breast cancer involving the skin of the nipple and the areola(the dark circle around the nipple). Paget disease usually affects only one breast. In 80-90% of cases, it’s usually found along with either ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or infiltrating ductal carcinoma (invasive breast cancer).
Signs and symptoms of Paget disease of the breast
The skin of the nipple and areola often looks crusted, scaly, and red. There may be blood or yellow fluid coming out of the nipple. Sometimes the nipple looks flat or inverted. It also might burn or itch. Your doctor might try to treat this as eczema first, and if it does not improve, recommend a biopsy.
How is Paget disease of the breast diagnosed?
Most people with Paget disease of the breast also have tumors in the same breast. One or more of the following imaging tests may be done to check for other breast changes:
Paget disease of the breast is diagnosed by a biopsy, removing a small piece of the breast tissue and looking at it in the lab. In some cases, the entire nipple may be removed. Only a biopsy can tell for sure that it is cancer.
Treating Paget disease of the breast
Paget disease can be treated by removing the entire breast (mastectomy) or breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by whole-breast radiation therapy. If BCS is done, the entire nipple and areola area also need to be removed. If invasive cancer is found, the lymph nodes under the arm will be checked for cancer.
If no lump is felt in the breast tissue, and your biopsy results show cancer has not spread, the outlook (prognosis) is excellent.
If cancer has spread (is invasive), the outlook is not as good, and cancer will be staged and treated like any other invasive ductal carcinoma.