Would Marjolin see it coming? Two unusual cases of squamous cell carcinoma

Yeela Ben Naftali; Ori Samuel Duek; Ram Kalus; Marc Berns; Yaniv Zohar; Yehuda Ullmann

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2018.07.035

Would Marjolin see it coming? Two unusual cases of squamous cell carcinoma

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2018:50:122-125. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2018.07.035. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

Authors

Yeela Ben Naftali¹, Ori Samuel Duek², Ram Kalus², Marc Berns², Yaniv Zohar³, Yehuda Ullmann²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: yeelab@gmail.com.
² Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
³ Department of Pathology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.

Abstract

Introduction: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a common skin cancer, second in incidence only to basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The incidence of SCC increases significantly with age; thus, it is rarely diagnosed in young patients. In this paper, we present two cases of young patients who presented clinically with purulent lesions that were later diagnosed as large primary SCCs.

Materials and methods: A review of the medical records of two patients who were admitted to the department of plastic surgery with a final clinical diagnosis of cutaneous SCC was conducted. Information of the review included history, physical examination, laboratory tests, imaging studies and histology. A literature review was also conducted and discussed.

Results: Two female patients under the age of 45 presented with large, purulent lesions that were initially clinically suggestive of an infectious etiology. The lesions were surgically treated by incision and drainage without sending tissue samples to pathology. Biopsies of the lesions were performed to obtain a tissue diagnosis due to recurrence approximately one year after the initial treatment. Histological evaluation revealed well differentiated squamous cell carcinomas. Surgical intervention with wide excision with adjuvant chemotherapy was recommended based on biopsy and CT scan results.

Discussion: Aggressive behavior of SCC in young patients is uncommon. The patients in this report were diagnosed only one year after the first sign of the lesion. One patient was first diagnosed with an abscess, and the other with necrotizing fasciitis. The delayed diagnosis of SCC in these two patients is a potential contributing factor to the aggressiveness of the tumors. Therefore, it is imperative to perform skin biopsies of chronic or persistent purulent lesions to rule out malignancies including Marjolin's ulcer.

Conclusion: Aggressive SCC should be suspected in cases of persistent and relapsing purulent lesions in all patients.

Keywords: Abscess; Marjolin’s ulcer; Squamous cell carcinoma; Young patients.