[Breast cancer accompanied by Paget's disease: an anlysis of 34 cases].

OBJECTIVE

To better understand the clinical and pathological features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of Paget's disease accompanying breast cancer.

METHODS

From 1958 to 1997, 34 such patients were operated and pathologically confirmed.

RESULTS

Breast cancer combined with Pagat's disease accounted for 0.9% of the total number of breast cancer patients treated in the same period of time. The mean age of patients was 47.3 years, and the mean duration of symptoms was 23.9 months. The patients received combination treatment with surgery as the major treatment modality. Among patients with nipple change as the first symptom, 26.7% of them had positive axillary nodes. The rate of metastasis was 26.7% as confirmed by surgical pathology. The 5-, 10-, and 20-year survival rate was 93.1%, 78.1% and 67.0%, respectively. Among those with palpable mass as the first symptom, metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes occurred in 52.6% of the cases, and distant metastasis in 42.1% of the cases. The rate of 5-, 10- and 20-year survival rate was 60.5%, 53.8% and 53.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Paget's disease, as a special form of breast cancer, may accompany cancer inside of the breast. In patients whose disease is confined to the nipple, their prognosis is better than those accompanied by palpable mass in the breast.