Clinical research of holmium laser therapy in extramammary Paget’s disease

This study aims to investigate the safety and efficiency of the holmium laser therapy in extramammary Paget's disease. The clinical data of 61 patients was collected since 2002 to 2012, confirmed as non-subcutaneous invasive extramammary Paget's disease by biopsy and underwent surgery. All patients were divided into two groups. Group A included 30 patients who underwent the holmium laser therapy. Group B included 31 patients who underwent the traditional surgical therapy. The clinical data of all patients included preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative management and follow-up records. Compared with the traditional operation group, the holmium laser group had a shorter operation time and was easier to perform. There were no significant differences between the two groups in cases of intraoperative and postoperative complications, the recurrence-free survival, and the disease-specific survival. But the holmium laser group had a longer recovery time than the traditional operation group in large and deep nidus. Multiple-factor analysis of prognostic parameters of 61 patients confirmed that any of these two methods chosen was not a prognostic parameter for recurrence-free survival. The holmium laser therapy might prove to be a preferable alternative to the traditional operative therapy of extramammary Paget's disease. However, the holmium laser therapy did not demonstrate to have an obvious advantage over traditional operative therapy in the recurrence-free survival and the disease-specific survival.