Lymphangiectatic Variant of Low-Grade Malignant Eccrine Spiradenoma

Low-grade malignant eccrine spiradenoma (spiradenocarcinoma) is a rare sweat gland tumor, which usually arises from a pre-existing benign eccrine spiradenoma. This paper presents the case of a 55-year-old male who had a lesion in his right elbow for 10 years. The microscopic examination revealed a well-demarcated, multilobulated tumor in the dermis and subcutis, which presented with many blood-filled vessels and extensive hemorrhage. The tumor was composed of hyperchromatic, round to oval cells with nucleolar prominence, mild to moderate atypia, and increased mitotic index. Additionally, lymphangiectatic appearance was observed in areas with prominent stromal lymphedema. P53 and Ki-67 had high positivity. Surgical excision of the lesion was performed with adequate surgical margins, and the dissected lymph nodes in the axilla were tumor-negative. After 15 months of follow-up, there was no recurrence or distant metastasis.

Direct intracranial invasion of eccrine spiradenocarcinoma of the scalp: a case report and literature review

Background

Eccrine spiradenocarcinoma (SC), also known as malignant eccrine spiradenoma, is a rare malignant cutaneous adnexal neoplasm arising from long-standing benign eccrine spiradenoma. Malignant skin tumors rarely show direct intracranial invasion. However, once the intracranial structure is infiltrated, curative excision with sufficient margins can become extremely difficult, particularly when the venous sinuses are involved. No effective adjuvant therapies have yet been established. Here, we report an extremely rare case of scalp eccrine SC with direct intracranial invasion, which does not appear to have been reported previously.

Case presentation

An 81-year-old woman presented with a large swelling on the parietal scalp 12 years after resection of spiradenoma from the same site. The tumor showed intracranial invasion with involvement of the superior sagittal sinus and repeated recurrences after four surgeries with preservation of the sinus. The histopathological diagnosis was eccrine SC. Adjuvant high-precision external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) proved effective after the third surgery, achieving remission of the residual tumor. The patient died 7 years after the first surgery for SC.

Conclusions

Scalp SC with direct intracranial invasion is extremely rare. Radical resection with tumor-free margins is the mainstay of treatment, but the involvement of venous sinuses makes this unfeasible. High-precision EBRT in combination with maximal resection preserving the venous sinuses could be a treatment option for local tumor control.

Surgical management and lymph-node biopsy of rare malignant cutaneous adnexal carcinomas: a population-based analysis of 7591 patients

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the prognosis of cutaneous adnexal malignancies, survival relative to surgical management, and utility of lymph-node biopsy.

DESIGN

Population-based study of the SEER-18 database from 1975 to 2016.

PARTICIPANTS

7591 patients with sweat gland carcinoma, hidradenocarcinoma, spiradenocarcinoma, sclerosing sweat duct tumor/microcystic adnexal tumor (SSDT/MAC), porocarcinoma, eccrine adenocarcinoma, and sebaceous carcinoma RESULTS: Five-year OS ranged from 68.0 to 82.6%, while 5-year DSS ranged from 94.6 to 99.0%. The majority of patients were treated with narrow (42.4%) or wide local excision (16.9%). DSS at 5 years showed that patients with stage IV had significantly poorer survival (50.3%) than I, II, or III (99.3%, 97.8%, and 89.0% respectively). 5-year OS was significantly higher for narrow excision (excision with < 1 cm margin, 78.5%) than observation (65.0%), excisional biopsy (66.8%), or wide local excision (WLE, 73.2%). Lymph-node biopsy was performed in a minority of cases (8.1%) and patients showed no significant difference in survival based on nodal status. The sensitivity and specificity of lymph-node biopsy for all malignancies were 46% and 80%, respectively. The PPV and NPV for that group were 0.46 and 0.80, respectively. Invasion of deep extradermal structures was a poor predictor of nodal positivity.

CONCLUSIONS

These malignancies have excellent DSS. Narrow excisions demonstrate better 5-year DSS and OS compared with WLE. Lymph-node biopsy is a poor predictor of survival in advanced stage disease and utility is limited.

Update on Malignant Sweat Gland Tumors

Malignant sweat gland tumors are rare cutaneous neoplasms, traditionally separated according to their behavior into low- and high-grade malignant. There is significant morphologic overlap, and outright malignant tumors may show relatively bland histologic features. They may, therefore, be mistaken easily for benign neoplasms. Recognition of these tumors and accurate diagnosis is important for early treatment to prevent aggressive behavior and adverse outcome. This article provides an overview of 4 important entities with emphasis on diagnostic pitfalls, differential diagnosis and recent developments. Microcystic adnexal carcinoma, squamoid eccrine ductal carcinoma, aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma, and spiradenocarcinoma are discussed in detail.

[Malignant transformation of an eccrine spiradenoma]

INTRODUCTION

Malignant eccrine spiradenoma is a rare and aggressive tumor, developed on the epithelium of eccrine sweat glands. Typically, it occurs after malignant transformation of benign eccrine spiradenoma, but sometimes it happens de novo.

OBSERVATION

We report a case of malignant eccrine spiradenoma in a 62-year-old woman. The patient presented a rapid increase in size of a long-standing tumoral lesion of her forearm. There was no secondary lesion on the chest, abdomen or pelvis at the CT-scanner. Cutaneous biopsy of the lesion was performed and showed a carcinoma with no contact with epidermis. On this biopsy, we could not affirm if the tumor was a metastatic process or a primary tumor of the skin. Histologic examination of the surgical removal of the tumor showed an undifferentiated carcinoma with adjacent nodules of eccrine spiradenoma. Immunohistochemical assessment of Ki67 expression showed a weak expression (5%) in the benign spiradenoma nodules and a high rate expression (80%) in the malignant neoplasm. The final diagnosis was an undifferentiated carcinoma arising from preexisting benign spiradenoma.

DISCUSSION

Malignant eccrine spiradenoma is not frequent and is rarely described in the international literature that may lead to diagnostic difficulties.