[Paget's disease of breast--a special form of breast cancer].

The incidence of Paget's disease of the breasts (15 cases) among 701 operated breast cancer was 2.1%. All studied cases were women. Over two-thirds of the patients were at menopause at the time of diagnosis. The interval between the clinical onset of disease and the histological diagnosis was approximately of 21.4 month. The clinical diagnosis was based on the presence of the characteristic erythemato-squamous lesion. In five cases a palpable mass was found. We registered one case of bilateral metachronous Paget's disease. Four patients had axillary lymphadenopathy: three of them presented with palpable mass. Mammography, cytology and histological examination from biopsy were the principal means of diagnosis. There were 10 women in stage, two women in stage II, and three women in stage III. The surgical treatment was the major component of treatment. The best prognosis was registered in the cases without a palpable mass in the breast and axillary lymphadenopathy with 5-year survival in four of five cases.