General
and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
Slide 93: Basal Cell Carcinoma of Skin
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Even in this blurry scan
of the tissue, you can see the little nests of basal cell carcinoma.
See this slide with the
virtual microscope. |
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Basal cell carcinomas
are without a doubt the most common skin malignancy in humans, and are
directly associated with sun exposure and solar damage to the skin. They
are found most often on the face. In fact, something like 80% of them are
found above a line from the corner of the mouth to the lower tip of the
ear. They are of fairly low invasive potential and generally expand by
radial growth. They may involve local, contiguous structures, but almost
never metastasize, unlike their malignant squamous cell counterparts. Although
some basal cell carcinomas show varying degrees of "skin appendage maturation,"
that is to say they may look a little like hair shafts or sebaceous glands,
the hallmark histological feature is the peripheral palisade arrangement
of the cells in the individual clusters. The outer layer of cells line
up like a little picket fence, and this feature is a dead giveaway as to
what you are looking at. |
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