Carcinoembryonic antigen in mammary and extramammary Paget's disease

Abstract

This chapter presents a study analyzing carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in mammary and extramammary Paget's disease. Paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens from cases of seven mammary and 12 extramammary Paget's disease were collected from the Department of Dermatology and from the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of the University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. An intraductal or invasive ductal adenocarcinoma of the breast was found in every patient with mammary Paget's disease. In six cases, the biopsies from the primary tumor were also studied for the presence of CEA. The lesions of extramammary Paget's disease were located in the vulva in six instances, in the inguinal skin in three, in the pubic area in two, and in the axilla in one patient. No deeper malignancies were clinically detectable in any of these patients. CEA was found in the Paget's cells in five out of seven cases of mammary Paget's disease. The CEA-positive material was located in the cytoplasm of the cells. The intensity of the reaction was not evenly distributed in every cell, and it also varied from case to case.