Basaloid squamous carcinoma in the liver

This report concerns a 46-year-old female who presented with 3 months of abdominal pain and underwent a right hemi-hepatectomy for a 27 x 25 x 15 cm, centrally necrotic tumor that showed histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features typical of a basaloid squamous carcinoma (BSC). A primary tumor at another site was not diagnosed and she died of disease 2 years later after several intra-abdominal recurrences. The entity of BSC was first described in 1986 and is a rare, poorly differentiated variant of squamous cell carcinoma occurring in various sites including the upper aerodigestive tract, esophagus, lung, anus, cervix and thymus. It has never been reported arising in the liver. It has characteristic histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features and is associated with a poor prognosis. Whilst no other primary tumor was diagnosed, it is not possible to substantiate that this is a primary hepatic tumor in the absence of an autopsy examination to exclude an occult malignancy in another site.