Paget's Disease of the Breast: A Tertiary Hospital Experience

Background: Paget’s disease of the breast is rare. It is one of the foremost subtypes of carcinoma of the breast, Ä‚ccŽƵnÆŸnÅ for only 1-3% of all breast tumors. It is ŽŌĞn misdiagnosed because of its unusual ƉƌĞÆÄžnƚĂƟŽn and absence of a breast lump in nearly half of the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆÍ˜ This study aims at ĞǀĂůƵĂƟnÅ the epidemiology and outcome of surgical treatment of Paget’s disease of the breast in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: This is a ÆŒÄžÆšÆŒÅ½ÆÆ‰ÄžcƟǀĞ study of cases of Paget’s disease of the breast seen and managed in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria over a 20 year period. The ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ were analyzed for age, sex, clinical ƉƌĞÆÄžnƚĂƟŽn and treatment given. Results: A total of 24 ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ out of 2,105 cases of carcinoma of the breast were seen to have Paget’ s disease. All were females aged 30 to 55 years and all had unilateral disease. Only 10% of the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ had a palpable mass on the breast. All the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ had biopsies either of the skin or both skin and breast lump. Conclusion: Paget’s disease of the breast is uncommon and easily misdiagnosed. This calls for wedge ƌĞÆÄžcƟŽn and/or histology of any mass seen for any ƉĂƟĞnÆš ƉƌĞÆÄžnÆŸnÅ with eczematous lesions on the nipples.