Chemosurgical Reports: Plantar Verrucous Carcinoma in Black Women

Verrucous Carcinoma Arising in Ulcerative Lichen Planus of the Soles

“…Plantar verrucous carcinoma is a well‐differentiated squamous cell carcinoma that occurs on the sole and heel 19 . Early clinical findings include an exophytic, flesh‐colored, verrucous mass sharply demarcated from a calloused, hyperkeratotic rim of tissue.…”

“…The cause of plantar verrucous carcinoma is not clear, but trauma, chronic irritation and/or viral infection may play a role 19, 20 . Barnett and Estes, 22 Kao, et al, 20 Klima et al, 23 and Mckee et al 18 all described cases in which verrucous carcinoma developed in areas of trauma or chronic irritation.…”

“…A diagnosis of plantar verrucous carcinoma is based on the clinical and histologic appearance of the lesion as well as its biological behavior 4, 19, 30 . The neoplasm is a low‐grade carcinoma capable of local invasion and extension into bone that rarely metastasizes to the regional lymph nodes.…”

“…The tumors are frequently misdiagnosed, either because the biopsies are too small or too superficial for proper evaluation, or because the pathologist is unaware of the size, site, and duration of the lesion 18, 19, 31 . Therefore, a deep incisional or excisional biopsy should be performed 3 .…”

Atypical Presentation of Verrucous Carcinoma

“…A total of 80 scholarly articles were identified in the PubMed search. Only 50 of the 80 articles met our inclusion criteria 5,22-25,31-68,70-76 : confirmed histopathological diagnosis of verrucous carcinoma or epithelioma cuniculatum. A total of 64 cases were available for analysis.…”