Three years before presenting at our hospital at the age of 57, this male patient was examined by a local doctor for sudden elevations in part of an erosive plaque located on the lower right leg. At the time of presentation, there was a 6 cm plaque from dark brown to pink in color on the right lower leg, in the central to somewhat lower part of which was a 3 cm tumor. Histologically, this presented an image of Bowen's disease, and in the tumorous portion there were mixed eosinophilic-stained tumor cells and poorly differentiated basophilic-stained tumor cells. From the clinical picture and histological findings, the diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma that hadprogressed from Bowen's disease. The tumor was excised. Metastasis to the right inguinal lymph nodes was discovered about 1 year after this excision, and soonmetastases were discovered in organs throughout the body. The course was rapid, and the patient died 1 year later.
We conducted a clinical and histological investigation of the risk factors for metastasis in cases of skin squamous cell carcinoma. [Skin Cancer (Japan) 2001; 16: 340-344]
