9

60 y.o. F, FNA skin lesion above parotid
Basal cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequent of all cancers in fair-skinned populations, and occurs most often on sun exposed areas. It is a malignant, locally aggressive epithelial tumour that very rarely metastasises. The tumour has a variable clinical appearance presenting as super?cial, nodular or morphoeic types. Cytological diagnosis of either air-dried or alcohol-?xed scrapes or FNA smears is reliable if suf?cient material is obtained

Cytological findings:

-Cellular smear
-Tightly cohesive sheets of small uniform hyperchromatic cells with scanty cytoplasm and indistinct cell borders
-Well defined, club-like groups of atypical cells
-Focal peripheral palisading in sheets and club-like structures
-Hyperchromatic round or oval nuclei with fine granular chromatin
-Little variation in nuclear size and shape
-Scattered tumour cells seldom seen

In the context of a parotid lesion, this is a metastasis from a known skin primary in the region of the parotid. A spectrum of basal type tumours of parotid. including basal cell adenoma. basal cell carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma have to be considered.