Squamous cell carcinoma in plantar ulcers in leprosy: a study of 11 cases

The objectives of our study were to describe and analyse the malignancies that occurred in plantar ulcers of leprosy patients. The possible predisposing conditions, duration and extent of the spread of the tumour were also studied. All patients with trophic ulcer of the foot attending the urban leprosy clinic in our hospital from January 1998 to January 2003 were screened for change to malignancy. During the study period, 79 cases of plantar ulcers in leprosy were seen. The mean age of these cases was 39.9 years with male-to-female ratio of 4:1. Eleven cases with plantar ulcers and malignant change were diagnosed in our hospital during the study period. The male-to-female ratio was 4.5:1. The mean age of these patients was 60.6 years. Their age ranged from 46 to 75 years. Nine of the cases were treated cases of borderline tuberculoid leprosy, while two had treated lepromatous leprosy. In our study, two distinct morphological types of malignant changes were seen. Histopathologically, all cases, except one, were of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma variation; one case had verrucous carcinoma. Though trophic ulcers are common in leprosy cases, only long-standing and neglected ones undergo malignancy.