Two Case Reports of Bone-invading Basal Cell Carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer, especially on the eyelid and nose. As it rarely invades to a underlying bone or metastasizes an distant site, and is usually found at an early stage, it is regarded as a curative disease. However, basal cell carcinoma on the eyelid and nose may be resected incompletely due to efforts to preserve important structures or as a result of esthetic considerations. We experienced two cases of basal cell carcinoma with local invasion to underlying bone. One was a recurred case on the nasal area extending to the nasal bone arts medial wall of the ethmoid sinus. The lesion was widely resected and covered with a radial forearm free flap. The other was on the eyelid extending to the orbit. It was treated with orbital exenteration and resection of the involved eyelid. The defect was reconstructed with the temporalis muscle flap with split-thickness skin graft. These patients were followed up for 7 months with no evidence of recurrence. Since basal cell carcinoma can invade to the bone and metastasize to a distance site, it should be resected radically in the regions of the eyelid and nose.