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.
Extramammary Paget's disease Outline