Metastatic basal cell carcinoma: response to chemotherapy

Basal cell carcinoma is a common cutaneous neoplasm that rarely metastasizes. Unfortunately, there is little effective treatment available when metastasis does occur. Therefore potentially promising therapies for metastatic basal cell carcinoma should be reported. We report a case of basal cell carcinoma metastatic to bone, bone marrow, and the pleural cavity in a 51-year-old woman who showed a striking, albeit brief, response to treatment with a combination of cisplatin, bleomycin, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil.