title: Malignant degeneration in pilonidal disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pilonidal disease is one of the most frequent entities in our daily surgical activity. Although it is a benign disease, malignant degeneration is likely to occur in pilonidal disease. We reviewed surgical interventions for pilonidal diseases performed from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed all 3729 histology reports obtained after surgical removal of pilonidal disease. There were three cases of squamous cell carcinoma and one case of basal cell carcinoma. Patients affected by squamous cell carcinoma had a mean age of 54.2 years and a mean time of evolution of the lesions of 20.6 years. We found local recurrence and lymph node recurrence. Mean follow-up period was 5 years and there was no mortality. The patient with basal cell carcinoma had 1 year of pilonidal disease evolution. There were no recurrences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malignancy can arise in pilonidal diseases with a long evolution time. There is a high rate of recurrence and morbimortality in cases of squamous cell carcinomas. Adjuvant radiotherapy in addition to complete local excision has demonstrated a decrease in the rate of local recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España. isaiasalarcon@gmail.com
authors.forename: Isaías
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alarcón-Del Agua
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bernardos-García
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bustos-Jiménez
authors.forename: Isabelo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Serrano-Borrero
authors.forename: María Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Casado-Maestre
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Docobo-Durantez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010864:Pilonidal Sinus / Q000473:pathology*; D012445:Sacrococcygeal Region; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*