This study aimed to compare surgical and oncologic outcomes of margin-controlled surgery vs traditional surgical excision for genital extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) in females.
Toluidine blue for extramammary Paget’s disease in Mohs micrographic surgery
We report an elderly gentleman with Extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD) treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) using Toluidine blue staining intraoperatively as to detect the Paget’s cells. An elderly man presented with an erythematous plaque on the left inguinal fold which showed in-situ EMPD on histopathological examination. Investigations for secondary EMPD were negative and the patient was treated with MMS. During MMS, the specimens from the patient were stained using Toluidine blue in order to detect the Paget cells and to determine the appropriate negative margin. At 4 years follow up the patient is free of recurrence. Toluidine blue is a fast, user-friendly dye that can be used intraoperatively during MMS as to detect Paget cells and thus to determine the appropriate negative margin.
Extramammary Paget disease
In 1874, Sir James Paget first described Paget disease of the nipple, also known as mammary Paget disease. In 1889, extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) of the scrotum and penis was identified. Although mammary and extramammary Paget disease are both characterized by epidermal Paget cells and share a similar clinical presentation, their uniqueness lies in anatomical location and histogenesis. EMPD presents as an erythematous plaque on apocrine gland bearing areas (i.e. vulva, perineum, perianal region, scrotum, and penis) in older men and women. It can be a focal, multifocal, or an ectopic process. Immunohistochemical staining allows for differentiation between primary and secondary EMPD in addition to the many other disease entities that clinically resemble this malignancy. When diagnosing a patient with EMPD, a full history and physical should be performed given the possibility of an underlying malignancy. Surgical excision currently is first line therapy and the prognosis is often favorable. Recent advances within the field have examined the expression of chemokine receptors within tumors, which may be applicable in determining prognosis. This review addresses the history, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, histopathology, differential diagnosis, diagnosis, management, and new observations with respect to extramammary Paget disease.
Paget Disease, Extramammary
Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is a rare dermatologic condition that frequently presents in areas where apocrine sweat glands are abundant, most commonly the vulva, although perineal, scrotal, perianal, and penile skin may also be affected. Lesions clinically present as erythematous, well-demarcated plaques that may become erosive, ulcerated, scaly, or eczematous. Extramammary Paget disease has a female predominance and usually occurs in the sixth to eighth decades of life. Professionals disagree about many aspects of EMPD, for example, the prevalence of concurrent vulvar adenocarcinoma or invasive EMPD, association with regional and distant cancers, and recurrence rates following surgical excision. Early recognition is imperative because the diagnosis is frequently delayed and there is a high incidence of associated invasive disease.
Extramammary Paget Disease
Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is a rare dermatologic condition that frequently presents in areas where apocrine sweat glands are abundant, most commonly the vulva, although perineal, scrotal, perianal, and penile skin may also be affected. Lesions clinically present as erythematous, well-demarcated plaques that may become erosive, ulcerated, scaly, or eczematous. Extramammary Paget disease has a female predominance and usually occurs in the sixth to eighth decades of life. Professionals disagree about many aspects of EMPD, for example, the prevalence of concurrent vulvar adenocarcinoma or invasive EMPD, association with regional and distant cancers, and recurrence rates following surgical excision. Early recognition is imperative because the diagnosis is frequently delayed and there is a high incidence of associated invasive disease.
Intraoperative Immunostaining for Cytokeratin-7 During Mohs Micrographic Surgery Demonstrates Low Local Recurrence Rates in Extramammary Paget's Disease
Extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD) is a rare intraepithelial malignancy typically occurring in the groin and axillary regions. Given its indolent growth pattern and clinical resemblance to inflammatory skin conditions, diagnosis of EMPD is often delayed. Reported recurrence rates for standard surgical treatments including wide local excision, vulvectomy, and abdominoperineal resection are high, ranging from 22% to 60% in the largest retrospective cohort of patients with EMPD treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) demonstrating local recurrence rates of 26% overall, 16% for primary disease, 50% for recurrent disease, and a salvage rate for recurrent disease after MMS (overall cure rate) of 100%
The authors hypothesize that the increased recurrence rates for EMPD after MMS, as compared to other types of skin cancer, are due to difficulties in recognizing tumor cells on routine hematoxylin and eosin staining. Indeed, the authors have previously shown a case of EMPD in the axilla with irregular yet contiguous finger-like microscopic extensions that were not seen on H&E but identified on sections stained for cytokeratin-7(CK-7). The use of intra-operative immunohistochemistry for CK-7 during MMS for EMPD is described in case studies and small single-center cross-sectional studies.
Usefulness of Mapping Biopsy in the Treatment of Penoscrotal Extramammary Paget’s Disease
Park et al. report their experience in the management of extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD) of the penoscrotal region and specifically compare outcomes among cohorts of men with the disease who either did or did not undergo mapping biopsies prior to their definitive surgical procedure. The rationale for the study and this comparison is that Paget’s disease initially spreads insidiously through the epidermis, sometimes in a single-cell fashion, and establishing the diagnosis can be very difficult subsequent to intraoperative frozen sections. Thus, several studies have described the use of outpatient mapping biopsies under more permanent section pathology techniques to facilitate the diagnosis and to ‘clear’ the surgical margins (references 19–21 in the article). This should theoretically lead to a lower incidence of positive frozen section margins intraoperatively, a lower incidence of positive permanent section margins, and lower recurrence rates for patients.
Extramammary Paget`s Disease: A Real Challenge for Geriatricians
Extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD) is a rare intraepithelial adenocarcinoma. It mostly affects women in their seventies. EMPD develops principally in the apocrine genital, anal, and axillary zones [1]. We conducted a retrospective study at the University Hospital of Reims over a period of 20 years (1994- 2014). 9 patients were included of which 7 were female. The median age of onset was 78 years (60-91). The diagnosis time ranged from a few months to 5 years prior to diagnosis. Vulvar localization remains by far the most common localization. 6 patients, all females, had pruritus (vulvar); 2 (22%) felt pain from the lesions.
Surgical Treatment and Outcomes of Patients With Extramammary Paget Disease: A Cohort Study.
A matter of margins: Surgical and pathologic risk factors for recurrence in extramammary Paget's disease
Medical records of patients seeking care for EMPD from 1/1992–9/2015 were reviewed. Follow-up was restricted to 5 years following primary surgery. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Risk factors were evaluated for an association with recurrence and positive margins, respectively, using Cox proportional hazards regression and logistic regression.
Inclusion of males allowed us to examine the influence of a different surgical approach (MMS) on margin status and recurrence rates in EMPD. In contrast to prior studies including solely vulvar EMPD, we observed strong association between margin status and recurrence risk. Risk of positive margins was significantly higher after WLE compared to MMS. MMS should be explored to improve outcomes in gynecologic patients with EMPD.
Mohs with CK-7 staining: 98% 5-year cure rate for extramammary Paget disease
Mohs surgery with cytokeratin-7 immunohistochemistry staining effected complete removal of extramammary Paget disease and resulted in a 5-year, 95% recurrence-free cure rate. The results are significantly better than the often-cited 77% cure rate seen with Mohs surgery alone, Dr. Ali Alexander Damavandy said at the annual meeting of the American College of Mohs Surgery.
“These are statistically significant and clinically substantial results,” said Dr. Damavandy, a procedural dermatology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. “With this method you can tell a patient that in 5 years, he has a 95% chance of still not having the tumor. The high recurrence-free rate we have seen supports the view that Mohs surgery with cytokeratin-7 [CK-7] immunohistochemistry should be considered the curative treatment of choice for both primary and recurrent extramammary Paget disease of the skin.”
Psoriasis with extramammary paget disease in a male: a case report
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by erythematous, sharply demarcated papules and plaques covered by scales [1]. Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is a rare neoplastic condition of the skin or its underlying appendages commonly found in the vulva, perianal region, scrotum, penis, and axilla [2]. Clinically the condition presents as a well-demarcated, thickened, pruritic, erythematous, or white scaly plaque with irregular borders [3,4]. Microscopically EMPD involves large cells with vacuolated cytoplasm and centrally located nuclei characterized as Paget cells [5]. The disease is categorized into primary or secondary EMPD with primary EMPD originating from intraepidermal cells and secondary EMPD coming from an underlying neoplasm [2,5]. However, there is no report suggesting the association of psoriasis with EMPD, or psoriasis admixed with EMPD. In this paper, we present a case of extensive psoriasis in a male combined with penoscrotal EMPD.
The Effectiveness of Mapping Biopsy in Patients with Extramammary Paget's Disease
Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is an intraepithelial carcinoma usually occurring on the skin or mucosa of the perineum. Clinically, it resembles eczema or dermatitis, and misdiagnosis and treatment delays are common. The treatment of choice for EMPD is a wide excision with adequate margins. Wide excision with intraoperative frozen biopsy and Mohs micrographic surgery are common methods; however, these are associated with a high recurrence rate and long operation time, respectively.
Methods
Between January 2010 and June 2013, 21 patients diagnosed with EMPD underwent mapping biopsy. Biopsy specimens were collected from at least 10 areas, 2 cm from the tumor margin. When the specimens were positive for malignancy, additional mapping biopsy was performed around the biopsy site of the positive result, and continued until no cancer cells were found. Based on the results, excision margins and reconstruction plans were established preoperatively.
Results
The patients (18 male, 3 female) had a mean age of 66.5 years (range, 50-82 years). Almost all cases involved in the perineal area, except one case of axillary involvement. Permanent biopsy revealed one case (4.8%) of positive cancer cells on the resection margin, in which additional mapping biopsy and re-operation was performed. At the latest follow-up (mean, 27.4 months; range, 12-53 months), recurrence had not occurred.
Conclusions
Preoperative mapping biopsy enables accurate resection margins and a preoperative reconstructing plan. Additionally, it reduces the operation time and risk of recurrence. Accordingly, it represents an effective alternative to Mohs micrographic surgery and wide excision with intraoperative frozen biopsy.
Appropriate use criteria for Mohs micrographic surgery
This report addresses the appropriate use of Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) in the treatment of cutaneous neoplasms. In the United States in 2006, there were an estimated 3.5 million nonmelanoma skin cancers diagnosed, and it is projected that there will be nearly 4 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer diagnosed in the United States each year.1 Similarly, the incidence of melanoma in situ continues to increase with an estimated 55,560 to be newly diagnosed in 2012,2 with many of these likely to be of the lentigo maligna (LM) subtype.3
Because of this epidemic of skin cancer and an increase in the number of dermatologists trained in MMS, the use of this treatment modality has expanded significantly in recent years. In fact, the use of MMS increased by 400% from 1995 to 2009, and currently 1 in 4 skin cancers is being treated with MMS.4 As the incidence of skin cancer continues to climb and the field of MMS continues to advance, dermatologists, primary care providers, Mohs surgeons, and the health care community in general will need to understand how to best use MMS in the treatment of skin cancer.
Recurrence of periumbilical Paget disease after fresh Mohs treated with slow Mohs with CK-7
Extrammamary Paget disease (EMPD) is an uncommon neoplasm that often involves the skin of the genital or perianal regions. There are no clearly established guidelines for treatment, but surgical excision with wide margins (3-5 cm) or Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) are the techniques of choice when there is no association with an underlying neoplasm. We present a case of EMPD in an unusual location (periumbilical skin). This was treated with fresh MMS, but reappeared, necessitating a second MMS (slow).
Extramammary Paget's disease Outline
This cancer shares many histologic similarity with Paget's disease of the breast. Clinically, patients present with itchy pink to red scaly areas, resembling a chronic eczema. There may be scattered islands of white hyperkeratosis. These areas may be scattered and multicentric, involving the vulva and perineum. It is a slow growing and progressive cancer which requries a wide local excision. In addition, there are occasional cases which are really underlying invasive adenocarcinomas which have secondarily spread to the overlying skin in 10-20% of cases. Underlying adenocarcinoma in 10-20% of cases represent secondary metastasis to the skin, not true extramammary Paget's disease. In these cases, the pathologist must perform a diligent search to identify a primary adenocarcinoma.