Health Alert

Mild irritation of the breast that can be misdiagnosed for dermatitis.

Breast Cancer is a disease that can develop in women simply because she is a woman. Although, this does not exclude men from these statistics as they make up approximately 1% of known breast cancer cases.  Common risks for developing the disease increase with age. Other prominent factors such as family history of breast or ovarian cancer may also be strong indicators. However, several cases are known where none of these risk factors were present.

Paget’s disease of the breast is a change in the skin around the nipple or areola which can present like a pimple or eczema and makes up 1-2% of breast cancer statistics. Although causes are unknown, many of the same risk factors as breast cancer are being questioned. While Paget’s diseases may be an indicator for an underlying existence of breast cancer itself, there have been instances where this was not the case. In fact, most cases were initially confined to the nipple with later progressions to other parts of the breast. Due to the nature of the symptoms, even medical personal have treated it as though it were dermatitis with topical antibiotics.

Women, and men, should be wary to the development of any unusual skin irritation around the nipple that is not investigated further. Many individuals who have pursued their cases have later found, through follow-up mammograms and biopsies, they did in fact have breast cancer and, in some, it had metastasized to other areas. When detected early, as with breast cancer, there are successful treatment options.  However, Paget’s disease is not often detected early due to symptoms that only present as a mild irritation which can spontaneously improve on its own. Persistent scaling, redness, increased sensitivity, pain and even oozing should all be indicators to have it checked. Women who breast feed may pass these symptoms off as those related to the nurturing process.