Report of two cases of granular cell tumor, a rare tumor in children

Abstract

Granular cell tumor (GCT) is a rare soft tissue neoplasm. It was first named as “granular cell myoblastoma” in 1926 by Abrikossof. GCT often manifests as a single, painless nodule that shows a slow enlargement in the cutaneous, subcutaneous, or submucosal tissues. It mostly affects adults between ages 30 and 60 years, and is very rare in children. We herein report two children with GCT; the first patient with a tumor in the neck is presented due to the rare occurrence of the tumor in children. The other patient with a tumor in the leg is presented both due to the rare occurrence of the tumor in children and the relatively less common site of occurrence. Both of the patients were female. The mean tumor size was 2.5 × 2 cm. Histopathological examination of the specimens revealed benign granular cell tumor. One of the patients who had positive margin did not follow-up after the first excision of the tumor and she presented with a local recurrence in a year. Then a wide excision was performed and the defect was closed primarily. The second patient had negative margin and had no recurrence during the follow-up period. Granular cell tumor is rare in children. Although it is mostly benign, it may be malignant in approximately 2% of the cases and metastasize. The local recurrence in a year is characteristic for malignant GCT before metastasis. Positive surgical margins are associated with high recurrence rates, therefore total excision of the tumor is crucial for local recurrence. GCT should be included in the differential diagnosis of head and neck masses. It should be remembered that the tumor may arise in atypical locations and there is a possibility of malignancy.

Keywords

• Granular cell tumor
• Recurrent granular cell tumor
• Pediatric masses