Sebaceous Gland Carcinoma

Excerpt

Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy that develops from the sebaceous glands. Sebaceous carcinoma is most common in the periocular area, head, and neck, but can occur anywhere in the body where sebaceous glands are present.

Sebaceous carcinomas may behave as primary neoplasms or may occur in association with Muir-Torre syndrome (a form of Lynch syndrome characterized by sebaceous tumors and other internal cancers, being the most common those affecting the gastrointestinal tract). SC behaves aggressively both locally and distantly; locally, it correlates with a multifocal origin, and causes destruction and sometimes a pattern of pagetoid spread, which is challenging to diagnose. Moreover, this tumor easily causes distant metastasis. For those reasons, the SC is considered an aggressive disease, which causes significant morbidity and mortality.