Pulmonary Metastasis of Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Rare Manifestation of a Common Disease with Variable Clinical Course

Metastatic basal cell carcinoma of buccal mucosa: a report of a rare case

Background

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer worldwide. Most of BCCs can be detected in the early stages and are generally well controlled with local resection. Despite the high incidence of BCC, metastasis is rarely observed. Metastatic BCCs generally have an aggressive phenotype and are refractory to conventional treatment.

Case presentation

We describe a rare case of BCC in which a series of local relapses culminated in metastasis into the oral cavity 10 years after the first diagnosis of cutaneous BCC. We performed surgical resection and postoperative radiotherapy in this patient; 11 months after the final course of radiotherapy, the BCC remains stable, and the patient continues to be monitored regularly.

Conclusions

Because metastatic BCC is refractory to current treatment and difficult to control, his treatment history and the pathohistological features of BCC had to be considered in posttreatment planning.

Metastatic basal cell carcinoma: prognosis dependent on anatomic site and spread of disease

PURPOSE

This review provides a description of the epidemiology and survival outcomes for cases with metastatic basal cell carcinoma (mBCC) based on published reports (1981-2011).

METHODS

A literature search (MEDLINE via PubMed) was conducted for mBCC case reports published in English: 1981-2011. There were 172 cases that met the following criteria: primary BCC located on skin, metastasis confirmed by pathology and metastasis not resulting from direct tumour spread. From these, 100 mBCC cases with explicit information on follow-up time were selected for analysis. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier methods.

RESULTS

Among 100 mBCC cases selected for analysis, including one case with Gorlin syndrome, 50% had regional metastases (RM) and 50% had distant metastases (DM). Cases with DM were younger at mBCC diagnosis (mean age, 58.0 versus 66.3 years for RM; P=0.0013). Among 93 (of 100) cases with treatment information for metastatic disease, more DM cases received chemotherapy (36.2% versus 6.5% for RM), but more RM cases underwent surgery (87.0% versus 40.4% for DM). Among all 100 cases, median survival after mBCC diagnosis was 54 months (95% confidence interval (CI), 24-72), with shorter survival in DM (24 months; 95% CI, 12-35) versus RM cases (87 months; 95% CI, 63-not evaluable).

CONCLUSION

Cases with RM and DM mBCC may have different clinical courses and outcomes. Based on published reports, DM cases were younger at mBCC diagnosis, with shorter median survival than RM cases. This study provides a historical context for emerging mBCC treatments.

Metastatic Basal cell carcinoma: a biological continuum of Basal cell carcinoma?

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) accounts for 80% of all nonmelanoma skin cancers. Its metastasis is extremely rare, ranging between 0.0028 and 0.55 of all BCC cases. The usual metastasis to lymph nodes, lungs, bones, or skin is from the primary tumor situated in the head and neck region in nearly 85% cases. A 69-year-old male developed progressively increasing multiple, fleshy, indurated, and at places pigmented noduloulcerative plaques over back, chest, and left axillary area 4 years after wide surgical excision of a pathologically diagnosed basal cell carcinoma. The recurrence was diagnosed as infiltrative BCC and found metastasizing to skin, soft tissue and muscles, and pretracheal and axillary lymph nodes. Three cycles of chemotherapy comprising intravenous cisplatin (50 mg) and 5-florouracil (5-FU, 750 mg) on 2 consecutive days and repeated at every 21 days were effective. As it remains unclear whether metastatic BCC is itself a separate subset of basal cell carcinoma, we feel that early BCC localized at any site perhaps constitutes a biological continuum that may ultimately manifest with metastasis in some individuals and should be evaluated as such. Long-standing BCC is itself potentially at risk of recurrence/dissemination; it is imperative to diagnose and appropriately treat all BCC lesions at the earliest.

Pulmonary metastasis of Basal cell carcinoma

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.