BOWEN’S DISEASE

SYMPTOMS

A single lesion usually characterizes Bowen’s disease. However, multiple lesions can also occur in 10 to 20% of Bowen’s disease patients. The lesion usually forms on your neck and head and appears as a plaque or scaly, red patch.

Symptoms include:

• Size ranges from a few millimeters to a few centimeters.
• Pus
• Patches that are slow to develop
• Crusting
• Flat or slightly elevated plaques that may grow as nodules.
• Irritation
• No bleeding in the region
• Wet redness or pinkness beneath the scaling
• Red scaling that sometimes shows as yellow or white

DIAGNOSIS

Bowen’s illness is mainly recognized by patchy, red scaling wherein a tiny piece of the affected epidermis (a biopsy) is obtained to establish a diagnosis. This is then investigated in a laboratory. Moreover, Bowen’s illness will be identified when studied under a microscope.

TREATMENT

When addressing Bowen’s disease, physicians take numerous aspects into account. These include the placement and look of any lesions and a person’s general age and condition.

Among the treatment options available are:

• Cryotherapy. It uses a freezing material like liquid nitrogen or argon gas to kill skin cells.
• Curettage. This medical method involves using specific instruments to burn and peel the lesion away from the skin.
• Photodynamic treatment. The physician treats a Bowen’s disease lesion with a special drug wherein, when exposed to light, the medication damages and destroys skin cells.

• Surgical removal. This entails eliminating the lesion and sealing the wound. Several individuals choose Mohs micrographic surgery, a unique surgical method that assists in protecting tissue. This treatment may be appropriate for fingernails, necks, and head lesions.
• Topical chemotherapy. Topical administrations of 5-fluorouracil and imiquimod are two examples.