Usefulness of preoperative diagnosis with magnetic resonance imaging for conservative surgery in Paget's disease of the breast

Abstract

Background: Paget's disease (PD) of the breast is a relatively rare condition (incidence 1-3%) among primary breast cancers [6]. It presents with suggestive symptoms like erythema, nipple bleeding and ulceration. Patient and Methods: A 76-year-old woman was followed up for cancer of the left breast that had been operated 10 years before. During her annual check, a lesion suggestive of PD was detected. Mammography and ultrasound were performed, without evidence of a new breast lesion. In consideration of a possible underestimation of the real extent of the disease, we performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: MRI showed an irregularly shaped tissue infiltrating the external side of the right breast. The pathologically bright signal involved the nipple and deformed the areolar skin. The characteristics of the increased signal were typical of a hypervascular invasive pattern and for tumoral neoangiogenesis. We performed a mastectomy with sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, with evidence of a DIN 3 carcinoma associated with PD of the nipple at the final pathology report. Conclusion: The MRI was instrumental for the assessment of the existence and extent of malignant disease in a patient with PD but without a palpable lesion detectable with negative ultrasound and mammography. © 2010 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.