An Association Between Bowen's Disease and Internal Cancer

BritishAssociation ofDermatologists' guidelines for the management of squamous cell carcinomain situ(Bowen's disease) 2014

“…Most studies suggest a risk of invasive carcinoma of about 3-5% for typical SCC in situ, 33,34 and about 10% for EQ. 3 In bowenoid papulosis, invasion is extremely rare.…”

Bowen's disease associated with multiple myeloma.

“…Callen and Headington (1980) also demonstrated a higher incidence of internal malignancy in patients with Bowen's disease (29.1%) who gave no history of arsenic ingestion. These studies Helwig 1959, 1961;Epstein 1960;Peterka et al 1961;Hugo and Conway 1967;Callen and Headington 1980) supported the concept of a relationship between Bowen's disease and internal malignancy. On the other hand, when Andersen et al (1973) used incidence rates of internal malignancies among the general population by age, sex, and year for comparison and employed the Danish Cancer Registry, death certificates and questionnaires to identify cancer cases, their findings failed to support this view.…”

“…In a later series (Graham and Helwig 1961), the same authors examined 155 cases of Bowen's disease, of which 37 (23.9%) were accompanied by internal malignancies. In a series by Peterka et al (1961), a significantly high incidence of associated internal malignancy was noted especially when Bowen's disease was located on unexposed areas (33%), compared to the low incidence on exposed areas (5%). In Epstein's series (1960) of l l patients with Bowen's disease, four (36.1%) were found to have visceral malignancies.…”

“…An increased association of Bowen's disease with such malignancies is controversial (Andersen et al 1973;Chuang and Ilstrup 1981), but has been supported by several authors Helwig 1959,1961;Epstein 1960;Peterka et al 1961;Hugo and Conway 1967;Callen and Headington 1980). Most of the associated internal malignancies in Bowen's disease are of non-reticular origin (Graham and Helwig 1959;Epstein 1960;Peterka et al 1961;Hugo and Conway 1967;Callen and Headington 1980).…”

“…An increased association of Bowen's disease with such malignancies is controversial (Andersen et al 1973;Chuang and Ilstrup 1981), but has been supported by several authors Helwig 1959,1961;Epstein 1960;Peterka et al 1961;Hugo and Conway 1967;Callen and Headington 1980). Most of the associated internal malignancies in Bowen's disease are of non-reticular origin (Graham and Helwig 1959;Epstein 1960;Peterka et al 1961;Hugo and Conway 1967;Callen and Headington 1980). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Bowen's disease associated with multiple myeloma, although a limited number of cases associated with other reticular malignancies have been published (Graham and Helwing 1959;Hugo and Conway 1967;Starke 1972;Andersen et al 1973;Maekawa et al 1975;Awan 1978;Callen and Headington 1980).…”