What is the prognosis?
The prognosis of Bowen’s disease is very good if treated early. If the altered tissue is removed and the skin is examined at regular intervals for suspicious changes, a real cancer can be prevented well. Since Bowen’s disease is difficult to distinguish from other skin diseases such as psoriasis, a late diagnosis can worsen the prognosis.
What are the chances of recovery?
The chances of cure for Bowen’s disease are very good if it is treated early. In most cases all changes can be surgically removed. If this is not the case, the changes can also be treated very well with non-operative procedures.
Causes for the development of Bowen’s disease
The development of Bowen’s disease has several causes.
- In the past, chronic exposure to arsenic was considered the most common cause of Bowen’s disease. Arsenic was not only found in medicines, but also as a spray in the vineyards.
Therefore, it was mainly winegrowers who were affected by Bowen’s disease. The risk of Bowen’s disease was also significantly increased in other industries where arsenic was used. Nowadays, the increasing knowledge of the harmful effects of arsenic is causing this cause to recede further and further into the background.
- As a further cause, it has been found that human papilloma viruses, or HPV for short, are significantly involved in the development of Bowen’s disease. There are different strains of the virus, which can lead to Bowen’s disease to varying degrees. These include so-called high-risk virus strains such as HPV 16 and 18, which can also cause cervical cancer in women.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of Bowen’s disease is made by the dermatologist. The appearance of Bowen’s disease is similar to other skin diseases, such as psoriasis, so a fine tissue examination is essential to confirm the diagnosis. For this purpose, a sample is taken from the suspicious skin appearance and examined under a microscope.
In Bowen’s disease, altered cells are found there, which are also called atypical or dyskeratotic. An important feature of Bowen’s disease is the intact basal membrane. If the basement membrane is broken, it is already a skin cancer.
All articles in this series:
