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Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

Living with cancer newsletter

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Doctors don't know what causes Paget's disease of the breast. But the most widely accepted theory is that the disease results from an underlying ductal breast cancer. Cancer cells from the original tumor travel through milk ducts to the nipple and its surrounding skin.

References
  1. Sabel MS, et al. Paget disease of the breast. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2010.
  2. Paget disease of the nipple: Questions and answers. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/pagets-breast. Accessed Aug. 4, 2010.
  3. Abeloff MD, et al. Cancer of the breast. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/100861143-2/0/1241/895.html?tocnode=51163917&fromURL=895.html#4-u1.0-B0-443-06629-9..50099-3--cesec126_4227. Accessed Aug. 4, 2010.
  4. Nicholson BT, et al. Nipple-areolar complex: normal anatomy and benign and malignant processes. RadioGraphics. 2009;29:509.
  5. Estimating breast cancer risk: Questions and answers. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/estimating-breast-cancer-risk. Accessed July 30, 2008.
  6. What are the risk factors for breast cancer? American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_What_are_the_risk_factors_for_breast_cancer_5.asp?sitearea. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
  7. Morrogh M, et al. MRI identifies otherwise occult disease in select patients with Paget disease of the nipple. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2008;206:316.
  8. Caliskan M, et al. Paget's disease of the breast: The experience of the European institute of oncology and review of the literature. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. http://www.springerlink.com/content/6270v27346461v08/. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
  9. Can breast cancer be prevented? American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/OverviewGuide/breast-cancer-overview-prevention. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
DS00771 Aug. 24, 2010

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