Paget’s disease of the nipple, also called Paget’s disease of the breast, is a rare type of breast cancer. It appears as an itchy, red rash on the nipple. The rash may extend to the darker area of skin surrounding the nipple, called the areola, or it can cause an open sore or eczema-like symptoms on the nipple.
The term Paget’s disease of the nipple is used to distinguish the condition from Paget’s disease of bone, which occurs when the normal cycle of bone growth is disrupted, causing the bones to become weakened and deformed. See the Health A-Z topic on Paget’s disease of bone for more information about this condition.
For simplicity, the rest of this section will use the term Paget’s disease to refer to Paget’s disease of the nipple or breast.
How common is Paget’s disease?
According to Cancer Research UK, Paget’s disease is found in one or two out of every 100 cases of breast cancer.
In the UK, around 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Most of these are women over 50 years of age who have reached the menopause.
Paget’s disease can affect men, but this is extremely rare.
Outlook
Paget’s disease is treated in the same way as breast cancer. The first step of treatment is usually surgery to remove all or part of the breast, including the nipple and areola. This may be followed by a combination of:
- chemotherapy, when medication that prevents cancer cells from dividing and growing (cytotoxic medication) is used to destroy cancer cells
- radiotherapy, when controlled doses of high-energy radiation, usually X-rays, are used to destroy cancer cells
- biological or hormone therapy, which can treat certain types of cancer
The sooner breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the outcome is likely to be. There is a good chance of recovery if it is detected in its early stages. For this reason, it is vital that women check their breasts regularly for any changes and always get any changes examined by their GP.
