What type of breast cancer is associated with Pagets disease of the breast?
People with Paget’s disease who do not have a breast lump that can be felt usually have a condition called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). DCIS is also known as intraductal carcinoma. In DCIS, abnormal cells are present only in the lining of the milk ducts in the breast, and have not invaded surrounding tissue or spread to the lymph nodes. People with Paget’s disease of the breast who do have a lump that can be felt at the time of diagnosis usually have invasive or infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The cancer has spread to nearby tissue, lymph nodes under the arm, or other parts of the body. How is Paget’s disease of the breast treated? Modified radical mastectomy is the usual treatment for Paget’s disease when the patient has an underlying breast cancer, or when the cancer has spread beyond the central portion of the breast behind the nipple. In this operation, the surgeon removes the breast, some of the lymph nodes under the arm, and the lining over the chest muscles. The surgeon may a
