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Updated: Oct 7, 2025
Experimental Metastasis Assay
Published on: August 24, 2010
Accidental discovery of metastasized basal cell carcinoma
Hanne Verberght1, Thomas Schok2, Siebe Wouda3
1Department of Surgery, VieCuri Medical Centre for North-Limburg, Venlo, Netherlands.
Introduction:
Metastasis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a very rare finding because the disease is mostly discovered early in development and treated immediately. Moreover, the metastasis percentage is less than 0.5%.
Patient And Methods:
A 66-year-old man presented to the emergency department after a fall from his bike. He sustained fractures, and a 40-year-old skin lesion was discovered on his back. Histological analysis of a biopsy from the primary lesion, a CT scan, and bone biopsy were performed.
Results:
The three tests combined confirmed BCC with metastasis to the liver, lung, and bone. We also systematically eliminated the possibility of other skin lesions, such as squamous cell carcinoma, angiosarcoma, cutaneous lymphoma, and melanoma.
Conclusion:
We report an accidental discovery of a rare case of a 40-year-old BCC with multiple distant metastases, resulting in stage IV disease.
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