Carcinosarcoma of the Scalp.

Ju, Hong Sil; Jun, Young Joon; Kim, Young Jin

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2003;30(6):827-830.
Published online November 1, 2003.

Carcinosarcoma of the Scalp.

Hong Sil Ju, Young Joon Jun, Young Jin Kim

Department of Plastic Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Kyunggi, Korea. joony@catholic.ac.kr

Abstract

Carcinosarcoma is a biphasic tumor composed of an intimate admixture of epithelial and mesenchymal element, both of which are malignant. Primary cutaneous cases are extremely rare. There have been reported only 18 cases of cutaneous carcinosarcoma in the world and only one case can be found in the korean pathology literature. Therefore it has been difficult to characterize the clinical course of carcinosarcoma of the skin. We present a further case of primary cutaneous carcinosarcoma in a 86-years-old woman with exophytic and hemorrhagic mass on scalp. Histologic and immunohistochemical studies revealed both squamous cell carcinoma and spindle cell sarcomatoid change intermingled in the same tumor. The clinical and histologic findings of cutanous carcinosarcoma were described.

Keywords: Carcinosarcoma; Scalp