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superficial basal cell carcinoma

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Superficial type (multicentric, multifocal)

This histological type, consisting of 10–15% of BCC is most frequently described in younger age categories. It consists of frequent small islets of basaloid tumour cells, well circumscribed against normal epithelia and in close contact but without apparent invasion; with papillary dermis.

The nests are often surrounded by thin strands of fibrous stroma with lymphocyte infiltrate and thin-walled vessels. Multifocal development of this type is sometimes called into question by some authors since three-dimensional reconstruction studies have shown that the cell nests, no matter how distant they are from each other, are connected by tiny projections.

From this finding the authors conclude a single-centre development of this type of BCC; in spite of this the synonym multicentric is still being used for the superficial type.

See also

- cutaneous basal cell carcinoma

Links

- http://www.med.muni.cz/biomedjournal/pdf/2006/05/261_270.pdf