Pathophysiology, histopathologic-imaging correlation.
Paget's disease accounts for about 1% of all breast cancers. The Scottish pathologist, Dr. James Paget, described 14 cases in 1874. It is important to be familiar with this breast cancer subtype, since in some cases all imaging tools can demonstrate the extensive, aggressive carcinoma filling the major lactiferous ducts and their branches (DAB), but in many other cases only the eczema-like nipple/areola changes indicate the presence of the extensive, underlying disease while the malignancy in the breast is mammographically occult.
This lecture describes three subgroups according to their imaging appearance. The role of breast MRI and the use of large format histopathology are emphasized.
