The rampant basal-cell carcinoma: report and lessons of a case

The case of a patient with a basal-cell carcinoma over a clavicle that escaped early treatment and became widespreadand deeply burrowing is recounted. It was first treated by radiotherapy, seemed to have been cured thereby, but two years later showed recurrence. It was then treated by Mohs' fresh-tissue technique which cleared the skin but exposed invaded bone and uncertain depth of involvement below. Radical extirpative surgery was subsequently attempted on two occasions, but when invasion was found to have involved major vessels in the neck, further treatment had to be abandoned. Some lessons of the case are discussed.