Dermatológia pre prax 1/2012

Giant basal cell carcinomas of skin – contribution to problematics of large lesions development and a presentation of three cases

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin usually does not reach larger size and a majority of the bioptically verified lesions corresponds to pathological stage pT1. This is mainly due to its slow and local growth character, which helps in its early recognition. Cutaneous BCCs larger than 5 cm are called giant BCCs and they represent approximately 0.5 % of all diagnosed cases. They usually occur after many years of growth, during which disabled person tends to neglect the symptoms of disease and refuses to undergo treatment. The authors of the article briefly describe 3 patients with ulcerated giant BCC of the skin. The first case represented a woman with a tumor located on the calva region of the head with intracranial propagation and compression of the brain tissue. The second case was a man with a huge mutilating cancer on the face, and the third case involved a man with a large tumor in the left inguinal region expanding into the scrotum and thigh. All patients came for examination after long-time tumor progression in stage of serious complications. Presented paper demonstrates, that this carcinoma, in spite of its predominantly „benign“ biological features, should never be underestimated because it may progress to the advanced stage of the disease, for which treatment is much more difficult with a larger negative impact and a worse prognosis for the patient.

Keywords: giant basal cell carcinoma.