Paget’s Disease of the Breast: Clinical Analysis of 45 Patients

OBJECTIVE Paget’s disease is an uncommon breast malignancy and often misdiagnosed. If the patient is treated at an early stage, the prognosis is satisfactory. Our study analyzed the clinical characteristics of the disease and the factors influencing the prognosis.

METHODS Fourty-five patients with Paget’s disease who were admitted to our hospital were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTS The most common symptoms of the disease were erosion and a bleeding-like eczematoid change at the nipple/areola. Of the 40 patients with an eczematoid change, 11 patients had verified Paget’s disease with a palpable mass on physical examination, and 29 patients had verified Paget’s disease with a nonpalpable mass. Only 5 patients manifested a mass with no eczematiod change. Thirteen patients had ipsilateral axillary lymphadenopathy. In this study, 25 cases were treated by radical mastectomy and 20 cases were treated by modified radical mastectomy. Five and 10-year survival rates for the patients with nonpalpable masses and for those with palpable masses were 95.5%, 78.6%, and 53.8%, 36.4% respectively. The former were significantly higher than the latter (P <0.01 and <0.05 respectively). Five and 10-year survival rates for the patients without underlying carcinoma (DCIS/IDC) and for the patients with underlying carcinoma were 100%, 88.9% and 69.6%, 43.8% respectively. The former were significantly higher than the latter (P<0.05) Five and 10-year survival rates for the patients with negative lymph nodes and for the patients with positive lymph nodes were 92.0%, 76.5% and 50.0%, 25.0% respectively. The former were also significantly higher than the latter (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION Treatment at an early stage is very important and influences the prognosis directly for Paget’s disease of the breast. The survival rates of patients with nonpalpable masses without underlying carcinoma and without lymphadenopathy, were significantly higher than patients with palpable masses with underlying carcinoma and with lymphadenopathy respectively. There was significant statistical difference between each of the 2 groups.