Rapid onset of squamous cell carcinoma in a thin skin graft donor site

Squamous cell carcinomas are malignant tumours of epithelial origin that can appear on sites subjected to chronic inflammation after a period of several years. The rapid development of squamous cell carcinoma at the donor site for a thin skin graft is a rare and poorly understood situation.

We report the case of a patient undergoing thin skin grafting to cover the area of removal of a vertex squamous cell carcinoma and in whom squamous cell carcinoma appeared at the donor site within 9 weeks.

In our case, we ruled out intraoperative contamination because two sets of surgical instruments were used. Given the number of cases reported in the literature, a chance event seems unlikely. The hypothesis of an acute inflammatory process caused by scarring of the thin skin graft site appears to us the most convincing. Development of cancer at the graft donor site may thus be added to the list of complications of thin skin grafting.