Ann Dermatol.  2011 May;23(2):213-216. 10.5021/ad.2011.23.2.213.

Pulmonary Metastasis of Basal Cell Carcinoma

• Seo SH
• Shim WH
• Shin DH
• Kim YS
• Sung HW

• KMID: 2156666
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2011.23.2.213

Abstract

Although basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer, it rarely metastasizes. Metastatic basal cell carcinoma may, therefore, initially elude diagnosis and management. We describe the case of a patient with a metastatic basal cell carcinoma present in the lungs. The differential diagnosis of suspected metastatic lesions should include metastases from a cutaneous basal cell carcinoma, in addition to those from more commonly metastasizing carcinomas, especially in patients with a history of a large basal cell carcinoma that has involved the head and neck regions, and was refractory to treatment.

Keyword

Basal cell carcinoma; Metastatic basal cell carcinoma; Pulmonary metastasis

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Basal Cell
Diagnosis, Differential
Head
Humans
Lung
Neck
Neoplasm Metastasis
Skin Neoplasms

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Computed tomography of the chest showing a well-enhanced pulmonary nodule on right upper lobe of lung.

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  Fig. 2 Positron emission tomography scan showed increased uptake on the right upper lung mass (A) and left lung mass (B).

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  Fig. 3 (A) Pathological examination of the excised pulmonary nodule demonstrated irregularly shaped tumor masses and retraction of the stroma around the tumor islands (H&E, ×40). (B) The tumor from the lung was composed of basaloid cell nests with peripheral palisading (H&E, ×400). (C) The patient's left maxilla BCC excised 10 years earlier showed similar histopathology with pulmonary MBCC (H&E, ×40). (D) The tumor cells from left maxilla are basaloid cells showing peripheral palisading (H&E, ×400).

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