What is Paget’s disease of the breast

  Paget’s (Paget’s) disease of the breast is essentially a type of breast cancer, which differs from the common breast cancer mainly because it develops in the nipple areola area and its clinical manifestations are recurrent flaking, oozing, erosion, crusting and stinging in the nipple areola area. However, the difference between this disease and true eczema is that in the former case, the nipple and areola are gradually destroyed, rattle-like, and cannot heal on their own, and in longer cases, the nipple and areola are even completely missing, unlike eczema, and the symptoms can improve after treatment for eczema. Simple paget’s disease without other lesions in the breast is a very early stage of carcinoma in situ of the breast and can be cured by surgery.  Many patients find itchy and flaky nipples and are very nervous about whether they have breast cancer. Although paget’s disease of the breast presents eczema-like changes, there is a difference between it and eczema. Many women suffer from lobular hyperplasia and sometimes feel itchy in the nipple area due to menstrual cycle, emotional tension and work stress, but usually there are no other symptoms in the areola area and this itching can usually be relieved on its own. When itching is obvious, accompanied by flaking at the nipple areola, and in severe cases may also cause thickening of the skin and rash, then these symptoms are first considered eczema of the nipple areola area, for this type of disease it is recommended to pay attention to the cleanliness of the nipple areola area, try to wear cotton underwear and bras lined with cotton, and avoid wearing long periods of time bra that is not breathable or thick in texture. For breastfeeding women, it is important to pay attention to the cleanliness of the areola area before and after breastfeeding, as eczema and mastitis are common diseases that occur during breastfeeding. Although these diseases occur in the breast, they are actually skin diseases and can be cured by targeted treatment. These benign diseases, except for external factors such as scratching or infection, generally cause less skin loss and have a certain degree of self-healing.  Of course, if similar itching, tingling, erosion and exudation of nipples occur, we cannot self-diagnose on the basis of these, which can easily lead to misdiagnosis. It is recommended to consult a breast specialist at a regular hospital breast surgery department as soon as possible, so as to avoid delaying the disease. When these symptoms do not heal easily or do not improve within a short period of time with dermatological treatment, especially when there is skin destruction or even defect in the nipple areola area, we should be highly alert to exclude Paired’s disease first. The diagnosis of Paired’s disease can be facilitated by routine ultrasound and mammography. Paget’s disease may also occur in skin areas other than the nipple areola, and paget’s disease in the non-nipple areola area falls under the category of skin malignancies. Paget’s disease in the non-papillary areola area belongs to the category of skin malignancies, which are still different from breast cancer and are treated differently.  Breast paget’s disease can occur in women of all ages, and theoretically in men as well, but in practice it is rare clinically, and like common breast cancer it is not contagious among the population. Once the diagnosis of paget’s disease is made, there is no need to panic. The staging of paget’s disease depends mainly on the presence of breast cancer in the breast, if only the nipple areola paget’s disease is not accompanied by intra-mammary carcinoma foci, or only the ductal carcinoma component of the ipsilateral breast, it is a very early stage of breast cancer. In principle, chemotherapy is not required after surgery (other treatments, such as endocrine therapy, may be required), and most of the patients who are seen in time belong to this category; if there is also an invasive carcinoma in the breast, the staging is based on the size of the invasive carcinoma and the status of the lymph nodes, and may require further comprehensive treatment (chemotherapy may be required) according to the molecular staging of the invasive carcinoma. Surgery is the treatment of choice. Surgery is the treatment of choice, but since the lesion occurs in the nipple areola area and may also involve the large posterior ducts, or some patients have a combination of intra-mammary carcinoma, breast-conserving surgery is generally not recommended. For patients with shape requirements, total mastectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy and breast reconstruction can be considered. Breast-conserving surgery for Paired’s disease has also been performed in small clinical studies abroad, but a consensus has not yet been reached.