Vol.96 No.1 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 96 No. 1 January 2003
A Case of Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma
of Oropharynx
Tetsuya Murakawa, Tetsuya Tanabe, Yasuhiro Murata, Yukihide Isoda,
Hitoshi Maekawa, Naoyuki Kohno and Satoshi Kitahara
(National Defense Medical College)
Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is characterized by an aggressive nature and typical pathological features. BSCC is a very aggressive malignancy and the prognosis is very poor because most cases develop both lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. BSCC is a bimorphic variant of squamous cell carcinoma with distinct morphological features and the differential diagnosis is difficult. We reported a rare case of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of oropharynx. A 67-year-old woman complained of dysphagia for three years and an oral mass was detected. Three years later the mass has elevated, and she had developed dyspnea at night. We suspected an oral tumor arising from the base of tongue. We performed a biopsy of the oral mass, which suggested inverted papilloma. Laryngoscopic examination could not determine the structure of the larynx except the vocal cord. We attemped to resect the tumor, but it bled easily, so we performed tumor reduction surgery. The final pathological diagnosis based on the surgically resected specimen was BSCC. The patient declined radical surgery, so we performed chemoradiotherapy. The tumor decreased and dyspnea disappeared, but six months after the treatment, lung metastasis was found. We performed chemotherapy and the metastatic lesion decreased. The patient is currently surviving with carcinoma, and her quality of life has improved. She has currently survived 32 months since the initial diagnosis.
Key words : basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC), prognosis, metastasis, oropharynx, chemoradiotherapy