Chronic vulvar Paget’s disease: a therapeutic challenge with a review of the literature

Abstract

Vulvar Paget’s disease is an uncommon adenocarcinoma of the female genital tract, occuring more often in postmenopausal Caucasian women and accounting for 1-2% of all vulvar malignancies. A 39-year-old female patient was examined for the erythematous and pruritic vulvar lesion, with biopsy and histological examination revealing vulvar Paget’s disease. We did not diagnose any associated neoplasm. The patient underwent four surgical resections for relapsed disease, varying from local excision to extended excision, including radical vulvectomy, with esthetic coverage. The margins were involved. Due to the extended target volumes, radiotherapy was rejected and the patient underwent a local topical therapy with Imiquimod 5%. The patient was free of disease, with three years of regular follow-ups. This case was challenging due to the long recurrence of the disease for approximately 26 years and due to the therapeutics issues that occurred.

Keywords

• vulvar neoplasm
• reconstructive surgical procedures
• extramammary Paget’s disease
• Imiquimod