A Case of Aggressive Basal Cell Carcinoma with Invasion of the Parotid Gland, Temporal Bone and Facial Nerve

Abstract

Received October 12, 2010 Revised October 29, 2010 Accepted November 8, 2010 Address for correspondence Byung-Joo Lee, MD Department of OtorhinolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, 305 Gudeok-ro Seo-gu, Busan 602-739, Korea Tel +82-51-240-7675 Fax +82-51-246-8668 E-mail voicelee@yahoo.co.kr Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common dermatologic cancer characterized by slow growing, less invasive and highly curable clinical course. But occasionally, BCC behaves aggressively with deep invasion and potential regional and distant metastasis. Several risk factors, including tumor size, duration, histologic type, and perineural invasion have been postulated as markers of the aggressive BCC phenotype. Tumors occuring along the nasolabial fold or the retroauricular area may be aggressive but that is still debated. Aggressive cases of BCC involving the parotid gland, the emporal bone and the facial nerve have been rarely reported. We report a case of aggressive basal cell carcinoma involving the parotid gland, the temporal bone, and the facial nerve with a review of the literature. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2011;54:288-92 Key WordsZZCarcinoma ᆞBasal cell ᆞParotid gland ᆞTemporal bone ᆞFacial nerve.