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Skin Cancer Bowen’s Disease Types

Erythroplasia of Queyrat Erythroplasia of Queyrat is a term used to describe Bowen’s disease of the penis. It is a carcinoma in situ that mainly occurs on the glans penis, the prepuce, or the urethral meatus of elderly males. It appears exclusively under the foreskin of the uncircumcised penis and is a moist, slightly raised, well-defined, red, smooth or velvety plaque. Pigmented variants of Bowen’s disease also exist, can resemble melanoma in-situ, and like all worrisome pigmented lesions, should be biopsied to establish the correct diagnosis.

Malignant transformation in this location may be higher than in other areas. These lesions may also be misdiagnosed and mistreated for years as psoriasis or eczema. A coinfection with human papillomavirus types 6 and 11 and other carcinogenic genital human papillomavirus types has been demonstrated. Analogous to Bowen’s disease of the skin, erythroplasia of Queyrat grows very slowly and has the potential for degeneration into squamous cell carcinoma.

Bowen’s disease of the vulva also exists and is thought to be related to human papilloma virus infection in most cases.