Case of basal cell carcinoma described within port wine stain

(HealthDay)—A case of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has been described within a port wine stain (PWS), with no preceding treatment, according to a case report published in the October issue of The Journal of Dermatology.

Mafumi Fujita, M.D., Ph.D., from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, and colleagues described a case of BCC arising within a PWS without preceding treatment, including radiotherapy. The patient was a 50-year-old man with a PWS that extended from the right side of his neck to his fingertip. The dark pigmented lesion within the PWS, first noticed when the man was in junior high school, began to get larger when he was 47 years old. The lesion became asymmetrical at age 50 years, with a poorly demarcated nodule.

The researchers found that the tumor was asymmetrical in color and shape, with visible arborizing vessels, large blue-gray ovoid nests, ulceration, and white areas on dermoscopy, indicative of BCC. The patient had no prior treatment with an argon laser or thorium X to the PWS. The tumor was excised, and dilated blood-filled capillaries and peripheral palisading of islands of the tumor were seen on histology, consistent with a nodular BCC.

"In conclusion, we report a case of BCC arising within a PWS without preceding treatment, including radiotherapy," the authors write. "Further investigation is necessary to clarify the interplay between the development of malignant tumor and oncogenic factors within PWS."

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