Paget's disease of the nipple: a ten year review including clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical findings

Abstract

Thirty-five women with biopsy-proven Paget's disease of the nipple were treated over a 10 year period at the Breast Cancer Unit, Guy's Hospital. Twenty-four (69%) patients had Paget's disease without a palpable mass in the breast; eleven (31%) presented with a palpable mass and Paget's disease of the nipple. Definitive treatment consisted of modified radical mastectomy in 32 patients, radiotherapy only in 2, and one patient had no definitive treatment. All 11 patients with Paget's disease and an associated lump proved to have invasive ductal carcinoma; five also had associated positive axillary nodes. Nine of the 23 patients with nipple changes only, treated by mastectomy, also had invasive carcinoma; three of these had positive axillary nodes. The remaining 14 patients with nipple changes only were found to have in situ ductal carcinoma, which was extensive in the majority of cases. In 13 cases, histological sections of the nipple were examined by immunohistochemical staining which showed that the Paget's cells expressed a keratin phenotype that was specifically characteristic of simple epithelial cells as seen in glandular epithelium. This was quite unrelated to the normal keratin phenotype of the surrounding skin keratinocytes. Clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical data suggest a mammary origin of the abnormal cells in Paget's disease of the nipple. Mastectomy appears to be the treatment of choice.