Sebaceous carcinoma of cheek arising in a lesion of solar keratosis

Abstract

Cutaneous extraocular sebaceous carcinoma is a rare tumor that frequently occurs on face and scalp. Sebaceous carcinoma is not considered to be associated with ultra violet radiation exposure. We describe a case of sebaceous carcinoma of the right side of the cheek occurring in a lesion of solar keratosis in a 44-year-old female, who is a farmer by occupation. Actinic keratosis carries about 8-20% risk for malignant transformation into squamous cell carcinoma. Other malignant lesions that have been reported to occur in actinic keratosis include basal cell carcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma and trichilemmal carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the third case to be reported in English language literature. Unlike the two cases reported previously, this has occurred in a younger patient and presented as an ulcerative, invasive lesion of 3cm size. The association of actinic keratosis and sebaceous carcinoma indicate that solar UVR is probably of importance in the pathogenesis of sebaceous carcinoma, as in the case of squamous cell carcinoma.

Keywords

• <i>Actinic keratosis
• cutaneous lesion
• extraocular type
• head and neck region
• sebaceous carcinoma
• solar keratosis</i>