Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma to the Parotid Gland

Abstract

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most common invasive skin neoplasm in Australia. It carries with it a lifetime development risk of 30% and accounts for approximately 70% of skin cancers Australia wide [1]. BCC is predominantly found in the head and neck region. Reports in the literature state 85% of metastatic BCC will originate in the head and neck [2] as up to 65% of all BCCs arise on the face or head [3]. There have been case reports of BCC metastasizing however it is rare with the documented incidence being somewhere between 0.008% and 0.5% [4]. A review of 850 cases of metastatic BCC concluded that facial BCC with a greater than 3 cm diameter had a 1.9% incidence of metastasis [3]. There have been two documented cases of BCC metastasis to the parotid gland [5], here we present a third with metastasis to the parotid gland and intra-parotid lymph nodes.