title: [Pulmonary metastasis of basal cell carcinoma of the skin. 3 case reports].
abstract: The Authors describe three cases of lung metastasis from a basal cell carcinoma of the skin observed in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the National Cancer Institute in Milan. The incidence of this rare occurrence reported in the literature is approximately 0.1%, The aim of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic treatment adopted in these unusual situations. In all cases the primary basal cell carcinoma of the skin was located in the head. All three patients had several local and regional recurrences and underwent multiple surgical excisions and subsequent plastic procedures. In each case complementary radiotherapy was implemented. The metastases appeared in the lung 9, 17 and 21 years, respectively, after onset of the primary tumour as bilateral nodules in two cases and as a single nodule in one. Curative surgery was possible only in one subject, consisting in a bilateral metastasectomy via a midline sternotomy, with 5-year survival. Surgery was withheld in the other two subjects owing to advanced age and the presence of bilateral nodules with concomitant bone metastasis, respectively. Both were treated by chemotherapy and the patient with synchronous bone metastasis also received radiotherapy. The elderly subject died after six months, and the other patient after 19 months despite partial remission of disease. In our experience, curative therapy proves difficult due to multiple metastases. In the literature there are few reports regarding this rare type of metastatic lung disease, but surgical intervention would appear to be the therapy offering the best chance of long-term survival while chemotherapy constitutes the second-choice treatment.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Chirurgia Toracica, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milano.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Brega Massone
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lequaglie
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gallino
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cataldo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed