Treatment of extramammary Paget's disease by radiotherapy

Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is a rare cutaneous malignancy, which usually occurs in the elderly. Wide local excision is the recommended treatment, although this may not always be feasible. We report our experience of EMPD treated by radiotherapy in five patients. The radiotherapy was well tolerated in each case, and there were no signs of recurrence during follow-up (6 months-8 years). This study shows that radiotherapy is a useful alternative therapy for EMPD, and should be considered particularly in elderly patients who may not tolerate surgery. (author)