Two Cases of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Arising in Immunosuppressed Patients with Chronic Human Papillomavirus Infection.
Increasing evidence has suggested that human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are linked to a large subset of numerous malignant tumors, including mucosal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC); however, its involvement in cutaneous SCC has not fully been elucidated. Cutaneous SCC is the second most common type of skin cancer and is increasing in frequency every year. Since we have no satisfactory treatment for advanced SCC, it is important to provide a definitive diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic intervention at an early stage. Here, we present two cases of SCC arising in immunosuppressed patients. In these cases, we suspected the association between SCC and HPV infection histopathologically and succeeded in proving the presence of high-risk type HPV by PCR analysis (HPV 14 in case 1 and HPV 23 and 38 in case 2). Although it is unclear whether HPV actually induced SCC in our cases, our cases showed rapid progression comparing to typical courses of actinic keratosis (AK)/SCC. SCC and AK are common diseases; in daily practice, dermatologists examine many patients with immunosuppression of various causes. We should apply increased oncological vigilance to these patients to prevent an aggressive course of SCC/AK.
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yuki
Y
Kuma
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Takamichi
T
Ito
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Konosuke
K
Nagae
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yukihiro
Y
Mizote
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Takeshi
T
Nakahara
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Uchi
Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yuichi
Y
Yamada
Department of Dermatology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Masae
M
Okura
Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yoshinao
Y
Oda
Department of Dermatology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Toshiharu
T
Yamashita
Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Masutaka
M
Furue
Actinic keratosis; Histopathology; Human papilloma virus; Immunosuppressed patients; PCR; Squamous cell carcinoma