does bowens disease always kill you?

[imfineokay]

Hi its me again, I am just curious as some say its only 5%of the time it invades other layers of skin. Im not googling as it always makes my anxiety worse. I know I dont have it is my doc said it was eczema, but it would ease my mind if I knew. So is it always deadly? Or mostly harmless like a wart?

[nomorepanic]

I am not sure we can answer this as we are not doctor's

If you don't have it then why are you worrying about it?

[imfineokay]

Ok, I just wanted to know as I thought just incase that I was misdiagnosed which is unlikely. I thought it wasnt something only doctors know

[MyNameIsTerry]

Googling may being up incorrect opinions from sources that are unreliable such as blogs or forums so with this question go to a reputable source such as NHS Choices who say:

Bowen's disease is a very early form of skin cancer, which is easily curable. The main sign is a red, scaly patch on the skin.
The abnormal growth takes place in the squamous cells – the outermost layer of skin – and Bowen's disease is sometimes referred to as "squamous cell carcinoma in situ".
Sometimes, the cancerous cells spread along the skin's surface, but it is usually very slow-growing and may not change for years.
Only occasionally (in 3-5% of patients) does Bowen's disease invade the deeper layers of skin and turn into a more serious type of skin cancer. However, this is only a risk if it's left undiagnosed or neglected.
It's important to get a proper diagnosis, as Bowen's disease can look like other conditions, such as psoriasis or eczema.
Always see your GP if you have a red, scaly patch of skin and don't know the cause. If necessary, your GP will refer you to a dermatologist to determine the cause of your skin condition

And that's just a progression statistic, it will be even lower when you factor in treatment.

[imfineokay]

Thanks but I read that and I cant tell if its saying if theres only a 3% chance of death or something else.

[damianjmcgrath]

I think it's worth noting that even if it progresses to that stage, which it only does if left unmonitored and unchecked, which seems really unlikely in your case since you'll be demanding checks frequently, the cure rate is extremely high.

If you're in that 2-3% of people where it isn't cured, and it turns into proper squamous cell cancer, the treatment rates for that are around 90%.

When looking at treatment rates, don't forget this is an average, so includes the very old and very young, and the ones with existing medical problems. They bring the average down. If you're of youngish age, in decent health, you'll be looking at as close to 100% treatment rate as possible.

---------- Post added at 23:57 ---------- Previous post was at 23:55 ----------


Thanks but I read that and I cant tell if its saying if theres only a 3% chance of death or something else.
3% chance the Bowens will turn into "proper" skin cancer. Then there's a 90% survival rate but see my post above for the caveat on that. Probably 100% survival rate for you, although potentially with some surgery, but nothing life-altering or life-threatening at all, probably.

And obviously, let's not forget someone with 12 years medical school education has said you don't have it. And we live in a world where people get sued for nothing, so doctors only give answers when they're sure.

[imfineokay]

Ok so only 3 percent of the time it can potentially kill you. Thanks for answering my question, and yeah I really dont think I have it any way.

[damianjmcgrath]

No, 3% of the time it'll turn into proper skin cancer, only if left untreated. If treated properly, i.e., not ignored for years, then the chances of it turning into proper cancer are basically zero.

And then, out of that 3%, the death rate is around 10%, but again, if you're not very old or very young and in good health, it'll probably be around 1-2% death rate.

So, you'd need to be in the 3/100 category first, then in the 1/100 category afterwards. That's maths I can't do to come up with a single probability, but it's just not going to happen.

[imfineokay]

Ok mate, so say I had this condition overall would there be very little chance of it killing me in the end like 3% or 1/100 like you said? Slightly confused sorry. So if untreated overall what would be the chances of death? 3 percent or 1 percent? Sorry about this, just very anxious and confused. Oh wait, did you mean 3 percent of the time Untreated could it potentially kill u by becoming cancer?

[damianjmcgrath]

It's 3% of becoming cancer. That's not saying it'll kill you, just that it'll become cancer. Then once you're at that stage, it's pretty much 1% it'll kill you. So you'd need to be unlucky enough to be in the 3% first, then really unlucky to be in the 1%.

So overall, and my maths are terrible, but let's say it's a 4 in 10,000 chance, so that's around 0.004% chance of going from nothing to dying. So 4000 to 1.

Note that I'm not a doctor and I've taken numbers from one NHS website and if a doctor read my post, he'd probably hate the language and oversimplification I've used but I think the basic point that it's extremely unlikely is still true.

To put it in context, the odds of a normal person fatally slipping in a shower is 2000 to 1. Killing yourself mowing your garden is 3000 to 1. Dying in a vehicle accident in the next year is 100 to 1. Being murdered is around 8000 to 1. Pretty scarily, odds of having a drunk pilot on a flight is 80 to 1.

At 4000 to 1, I think you're pretty safe!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Damian, a doctor may not approve but they can't disapprove of the basics of mathematical calculations. Your logic is clearly spot on and its not medical advice because its in the public domain and the NHS put it there to reassure & educate people.

The thing I'll add on to what you have said, which I'm sure has been said above already but its always good to keep reinforcing the good stuff, is that this 3-5% is also based on a longer amount of time with it not being treated. We have a doctor in play here and it can be monitored and if a treatment for eczema isn't working, he/she will keep trying and exmaining it each time. Eczema is so common, I've had it since childhood, and they will be skilled at spotting the difference. If they were unsure, they would make a referral to most likely a dermatologist and if treatment doesn't work for eczema, they may even still do that.

A further thing I can add is, my dad had one of these one his nose. He had it a couple of years and just assumed it was a skin condition. His GP referred him and the specialist said that it was incredibly common and rarely progressed to anything and treatment rates were excellent too. He's still here several years later and he had left his long term untreated!

[imfineokay]

Thanks guys, so thats even less chance of it killing you untreated then, wow. Anyways I think its pretty safe to assume that if I had this it wouldn't progress into anything deadly untreated, unless I was unlucky. Thanks