Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the brain. A rare autopsy case

Abstract

In the present study, a rare autopsy case of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the brain is described. The patient was a 49-year-old man who showed brainstem symptoms and signs. These included oculomotor, abducens and facial palsies, dysphagia, dysarthria, and long tract signs such as quadriplegia with Babinski's signs during the 3-year and 6-month course of his illness. Neuropathologically, poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was seen in the pons, medulla oblongata, part of the midbrain and spinal cord, the base of the cerebellum, the hypothalamus, the optic chiasm, and the left parahippocampal gyrus. The base of the pons and medulla oblongata were extensively destroyed by tumor cells. The relevant literature regarding primary squamous cell carcinomas of the brain was reviewed, and the characteristic features of this rare condition were discussed.

Two Autopsy Cases Assessing the Association of Rare Tumors Adjacent to the Sella turcica with Cause of Death and a Review of the Literature

“…Epidermoid cysts comprise about 1% of brain tumors and have only been reported in eight autopsies published in international journals [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The ages of the subjects in these reports range from 4-66 years (median: 36 years), which is relatively young, and there were six males and two females.…”

“…The ages of the subjects in these reports range from 4-66 years (median: 36 years), which is relatively young, and there were six males and two females. Only two of the eight cases had a clear and direct connection between the tumor and death [12,16]. Among the eight reported cases, half of the patients had complications of malignant tumors, and these cases had a history of infections in their medical record [9,16].…”

“…Only two of the eight cases had a clear and direct connection between the tumor and death [12,16]. Among the eight reported cases, half of the patients had complications of malignant tumors, and these cases had a history of infections in their medical record [9,16]. Though the details of a causal relationship between infection and malignant tumors are unknown, there are reports of infections spreading through the cerebrospinal fluid [17,18].…”

Malignant Transformation of an Intracranial Large Epidermoid Cyst With Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis -Case Report-

“…IECs are generally thought to be benign and potentially curable by surgery. Malignant transformation of an IEC to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is rare, and such malignant transformation associated with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis 7) 52/M CPA EC, SCC CSF cytology, autopsy Yamanaka et al (1955) 36) 57/M base of brain EC, SCC autopsy Landers and Danielski (1960) 21) 73/F cerebellar vermis EC, SCC autopsy Fox and South (1965) 8) 50/M temporal EC SCC autopsy, Op(＋) Koempf and Menges (1977) 19) 57/F parapontine EC, SCC CSF cytology, autopsy Takado et al (1982) 32) 53/F parapontine EC, SCC autopsy Bondeson and Faelt (1984) 5) 56/F CPA EC, ECa CSF cytology, autopsy Maffazzoni et al (1986) 24) 45/M fronto-basal EC, ECa surgery Ishimatsu et al (1988) 15) 40/M CPA EC, SCC myelography, autopsy, Op(＋) Gi et al (1990) 10) 39/M CPA EC, SCC myelography, Op(＋) Mohanty et al (1996) 25) 20/M midline PF EC, SCC autopsy, Op(＋) Ishikawa et al (2000) 14) 65/M CPA EC, SCC autopsy Asahi et al (2001) 3) 55/F CPA EC, ECa MR imaging, Op(＋) Khan et al (2001) 16) 53/M prepontine EC, SCC MR imaging Shirabe et al (2003) 31) 49 …”

“…3,5,7,8,10,11,[14][15][16]18,19,21,24,25,28,31,32,36) We describe a case of malignant transformation of an IEC to SCC associated with LC, originating as a large cystic lesion, located in the left parapontine to left medial temporal region, which underwent malignant transformation 16 years after the first surgery or 17 years after the onset of clinical symptoms, and showed LC 2 years later.…”