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Basal cell carcinoma of the external auditory
canal.Acta
Chir Belg. 2002 Apr;102(2):137-40.
Carcinomas of
the external auditory canal are rare, nevertheless they are
associated with a relatively poor prognosis. Among these tumours,
basal cell carcinomas are less frequent than squamous cell
carcinomas. Anyway, it is difficult to determine if their
prognosis is better, as in other localizations on the body. We
reviewed six patients, presenting locally advanced basal cell
carcinomas of the external auditory canal and considered the
history of their disease, the treatment procedures and final
oncological outcome. Four of the patients died of the disease
within five years from surgery. They presented local recurrences
even after radical surgical excision in free tissue margins. From
these findings we have the impression that basal cell carcinoma of
the external auditory canal behave, even after radical surgery, as
an aggressive tumour associated with a really poor prognosis.
Basal cell
carcinoma of the earlobe after auricular acupuncture.
Dermatology.
2002;204(2):142-4.
The
genesis of familial and sporadic basal cell carcinomas involves
activation of the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway.
Other known factors for the development of basal cell carcinoma
are ultraviolet exposure, X-rays, race, age, gender and decreased
DNA repair capacity. We here report the case of a right earlobe
sporadic basal cell carcinoma in a 65-year-old woman. This case is
unusual because of its earlobe localization and its association
with multiple auricular acupuncture treatments. This observation
suggests a connection between local traumas, which occur in the
course of acupuncture treatment and ear piercing, and the genesis
of basal cell carcinoma. The incidence of minor adverse events
associated with acupuncture is high, but serious events are
uncommon. Acupuncture is not known to date for promoting the
development of tumors. This connection remains to be elucidated.
Epidemiology of
basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the pinna.J
Laryngol Otol. 2001 Feb;115(2):85-6.
This is a
retrospective study designed to compare the incidence of basal
cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in the head
and neck skin area with special reference to the pinna. The
results showed 426 patients had 460 cutaneous malignancies in the
head and neck area, managed by four specialties (ENT, Dermatology,
General Surgery and GPs) over the period 1994-99. The lesions
comprised 375 (80.47 per cent) BCC and 85 (18.47 per cent) SCC. In
cases of BCC the facial areas were commonly involved (88 per
cent), whilst SCC was almost equally distributed between the most
(face, forehead and nose) and least exposed areas (pinna and
scalp). The overall ratio of BCC to SCC remained four to one in
the head and neck area. In 41 patients with 51 lesions over the
pinna there were 29 (56.8 per cent) BCC and 22 (43.1 per cent) SCC
hence the ratio was 1.3 to 1 for this site. We conclude that in
the case of a suspicious lesion over the pinna, the risk of SCC is
comparatively much higher. With increasing awareness of early and
quick diagnosis of cancer cases, it is recommended that these
patients should be referred urgently to prevent the significant
morbidity associated with invasive SCC.
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