Bowen's Disease of the Nipple and Areola: Case Report and Literature Review

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2023 Aug 9:16:2113-2118. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S419059. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: Bowen's disease (BD) commonly occurs in sites of chronic sunlight exposure such as head, neck and extremities. It rarely distributes on the nipple and areola.

Case presentation: A 59-year-old female presented with crusted plaque on the right breast for over 1 month. Physical examination found an asymptomatic plaque (5 cm × 5 cm) with irregular shape on the right breast. Histopathological examination suggested irregularly acanthotic epidermis and atypical epidermal cells. Dermis showed inflammatory cell infiltration. Immunohistochemical staining showed negative staining for cytokeratin 7 and cytokeratin 20, and positive staining for Ki67 (60%). The mass was excised and no recurrence occurred in the follow-up. Additionally, we reviewed the literature about BD of the breast and summarized the clinical manifestations, histological features, and treatment options.

Conclusion: We reported a rare BD case involving nipple and areola. Wide local excision and complete nipple excision are effective for patients with BD of the nipple and areola.

Keywords: Bowen’s disease; breast; case report; nipple.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Development Project [Grant No.: 20200201577JC].