A multicenter study on extramammary Paget's disease in Korea

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There has been little research on extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) conducted in Asia.

METHODS: The aim of this multicenter study was to investigate the clinicopathological features, biological behavior, and treatment of EMPD in 194 Korean patients over a five-year period.

RESULTS: As expected, this disease exhibited a male dominance (3.9:1) pattern. To distinguish the true association of malignancy with EMPD from coincidental occurrence of malignancy, we modified Chanda's guidelines. This analysis determined that there was an accompanying malignancy in 26 patients (14.4%), which included stomach (six cases), rectum (three cases), and colon (three cases) malignancies. With regard to treatment, 112 patients (58%) underwent conventional excisions, and 22 (11.4%) had Mohs surgery. Follow-up data for periods of 3-180 months were available for 147 patients; these data indicated that 42 patients (28.6%) experienced local recurrences. Patients who underwent Mohs micrographic surgery experienced a lower rate of recurrence (12.5%) than patients who underwent conventional excision (33.3%).

CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this Korean population-based study demonstrated that the clinical features of EMPD, such as gender predominance, are consistent with reports from other Asian population-based studies. However, this study additionally demonstrated that the rate of association with malignancy in the Korean population (14.4%) was higher than that observed in other Asian studies.