Facts of Medicine: Bowen's Disease

Bowen's disease manifests itself in the form of red, scaly-like spots on the skin. This disease is an early form of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, which is now treatable.

Bowen's disease: general information

Flat cells make up the entire outer layer of the skin. Often this disease is also called intraepidermal carcinoma, since the disease leads to invasive cancer, if not treated.

Sometimes cancer cells spread over the surface of the skin, but they grow very slowly and do not change for years. Only 3-5% of patients Bowen's disease penetrates the skin and leads to cancer, but it is very important to consult a doctor in time and get a correct diagnosis. Often this disease is confused with eczema or psoriasis.

This disease can occur anywhere on the body. Bowen's disease can occur in the mouth, on the arms, legs, face, etc. When spots appear on the genitals, the ailment is sometimes called bovenoid papulosis.

What causes Bowen's disease?

The causes of the ailment are often unknown. The disease is not transmitted by inheritance and through physical contact. However, people with fair skin have a better chance of getting sick with it.

A very long stay in the sun often causes Bowen's disease. However, this is not the only reason, because the ailment can manifest itself in areas of the body that do not even get sun rays.

Bowen's disease also has a better chance of appearing on those areas of the skin that are susceptible to radiotherapy. Exposure to arsenic skin can also cause ailment.

Bovenoid papulosis can be caused by the same human papillomavirus that causes genital warts.

How is Bowen's disease treated?

There are several methods to combat this disease. Bowen's disease (photos placed above) should be treated taking into account many factors that your dermatologist must determine: the number, thickness and volume of spots, possible complications that have come and how much a particular area of the skin is to be treated at all.

Physicians can be assigned the following procedures:

1. Cryotherapy - with the nitrogenic liquid, the required skin area is processed to freeze it. The procedure can be painful, and the treated area is usually blistered.
2. Treatment of the site with cream "Imiquimod" or used in chemotherapy cream "Ftoruracil-5" for some time.
3. Curettage and burning - under local anesthesia, the skin area is scraped off, and then electricity or heat is used to stop bleeding.
4. Photodynamic therapy - a photosensitive cream is applied to the skin, and after 4-6 hours a laser is applied to the skin area to destroy pathological cells, which affects it for 20-45 minutes. Then the skin is covered with a bandage to protect it from any other light. Perhaps, several such procedures are required.
5. Surgery - the damaged area is completely cut out with a scalpel, and then, if necessary, seams are superimposed on it. However, this is not the most appropriate procedure if the consequences of the disease (spots) occupy a large area or a few.
6. Other types of treatment can be prescribed.

After one of the procedures, Bowen's disease recedes, which is evident from the missing spots. Do not try to cope with the formations on your skin by yourself - so you can bring other infections or aggravate the situation with the existing disease.