Bowen’s disease

December 31, 2014

Overview

Intraepiderman form of squamous cell skin cancer cause by sun damage to skin.

Symptoms

* Scaly skin patch * Pink crusty skin bumps * Brown crusty skin bumps

Causes

Causes of BD include solar damage, arsenic, immunosuppression (including AIDS), viral infection (human papillomavirus or HPV) and chronic skin injury and dermatoses.

Treatment

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), Cryotherapy (freezing) or local chemotherapy (with 5-fluorouracil) are favored by some clinicians over excision. Because the cells of Bowen's disease have not invaded the dermis, it has a much better prognosis than invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Outstanding result have been noted with the use of imiquimod for Bowen's disease of the skin, including the penis (erythroplasia of Queyrat). Imiquimod is not FDA approved for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma.