Squamous cell carcinoma: pain as a clue to increased tumour diameter, increased invasion depth, the grade of differentiation, acantholysis and perineural invasion.

BACKGROUND: Pain may be associated with actinic keratosis (AK), intraepidermal carcinoma (IEC) and invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which may all display high-risk features. AIM: To examine variation in pain frequency associated with these three conditions, and assess their invasive SCC surface diameter, invasion depth, grade of differentiation, presence of acantholysis and perineural invasion (PNI). METHODS: Pain was prospectively recorded for consecutive cases of AK, IEC and SCC from three institutions in Australia during the period 2016-2018. RESULTS: Pain with palpation was recorded with 15.8% of AK (n = 30/190), 15.1% of IEC (n = 345/299) and 29.0% invasive SCC (n = 247/853). Pain without palpation was respectively 1.1% (2/190), 4.0% (12/299) and 6.7% (57/853). Invasive SCC with increased surface diameters and deeper invasion recorded increased pain frequency. Pain did not vary significantly by the grade of differentiation in males. In females, well-differentiated SCC recorded more pain (45.4%; n = 473) than poorly differentiated SCC (9.1%; n = 11). Acantholytic SCC recorded more pain 48.7% (n = 29) than nonacantholytic SCC 35.2% (n = 824). Three out of five cases of PNI recorded pain. Pain intensity was not recorded, which was a limitation. CONCLUSION: Pain presence increases from AK to invasive SCC. Pain was more frequent in invasive SCC with increased surface diameter, deeper invasion, acantholysis and PNI. Pain frequency did not vary between the grades of differentiation in males. In females, pain was less frequent in poorly differentiated than in well-differentiated SCC.

Grover disease and bullous pemphigoid: a clinicopathological study of six cases.

Grover disease (GD) is an idiopathic dermatosis that typically manifests as itchy papules over the trunk in middle-aged men. Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune bullous disease that affects older people. Not only are the two diseases easily distinguishable on clinical grounds, they are also characterized by differences in histopathology, pathogenesis and response to treatment Thus, the co-occurrence of these two conditions in the same patient is usually considered coincidental. In this report, we present a multicentre retrospective analysis of six patients who developed both GD and BP over a short period of time, and in all cases but one, GD preceded BP. We discuss the clinical and histopathological features of these patients, and the suggested mechanisms of the diseases. We conclude that GD might predispose to the development of BP.

Coexistence of Pemphigus Foliaceus and Grover Disease After a Radical Surgery for Basal Cell Carcinoma.

The differential diagnosis of Grover disease (GD) includes pemphigus foliaceus. However, the focal nature of the histologic findings and negative direct immunofluorescent point to the diagnosis of GD. It has been associated with a variety of systemic and cutaneous diseases, but its association with other primary acantholytic disorders has been rarely documented. In this article, we describe the first case of GD in association with pemphigus foliaceus.

Grover's disease secondarily infected with herpes simplex virus and Staphylococcus aureus: case report and review.

The case of a 73-year old man with herpes simplex and staphylococcus aureus infection complicating established Grover's disease is presented. This was treated successfully with valaciclovir. While reports of bacterial and herpetic infections complicating other acantholytic diseases, such as Darier's disease, have been published previously, only one publication to date shows herpes simplex infection in Grover's disease.

Pemphigus vulgaris: a case report.

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune mucocutaneous disorder of the oral cavity and is the most common subtype of pemphigus. The etiology remains obscure, although the disease is characterized by autoantibodies directed against the desmoglein component of the keratinocytes. It manifests clinically as vesicle, bullae or erosions of skin and mucous membrane and histopathologically shows the presence of acantholysis. The presence of exclusive oral lesions initially increases the chances of misdiagnosing the disease as another condition, posing diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic difficulties, consequently prompt diagnosis and treatment can prevent untoward consequences. Demonstration of IgG antibodies against desmoglein in Immunofluroscence confirms the diagnosis. In here we report a case of a 55-year-old female patient suffering from PV emphasizing the significance of clinical examination, pertinent investigations, treatment rendered and its outcome.

Leukemia cutis in association With Grover's disease.

Grover's disease (GD), or transient acantholytic dermatosis, is a persistent recurrent dermatosis that usually occurs in men older than 50 years. Rare cases of GD and hematologic malignancy in the same cutaneous biopsy specimen have been reported. We report a case of GD in association with leukemia cutis. A 72-year-old man with a history of myelodysplastic syndrome presented with numerous pruritic papules on the torso, which were clinically diagnosed as GD. A skin biopsy revealed foci of suprabasal acantholysis and dyskeratosis consistent with GD and dense aggregates of mononuclear atypical cells in the superficial dermis consistent with leukemia cutis. Direct immunofluorescence was negative. This case illustrates the need to consider a diagnostic skin biopsy in any patient who presents with classic clinical findings of GD if there is any indication that the patient may be at higher risk for a hematologic malignancy.

[Classical and atypical presentations of Galli-Galli disease]. / Klassische und atypische Präsentation des Morbus Galli-Galli.

Galli-Galli disease is a rare genodermatosis which classically presents with reticulate hyperpigmentation of the flexures and intertriginous areas. Recently, an atypical clinical presentation of Galli-Galli disease with monomorphic lentigo-like maculae and papules has been reported. We describe two cases of Galli-Galli disease, one patient presenting with a classical form and another with atypical skin lesions. In spite of the clinical differences, the histopathological examination - with filiform elongated rete ridges and acantholysis - confirmed the diagnosis of Galli-Galli disease in both cases.

Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity: an uncommon histological variant of squamous cell carcinoma.

Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma is a rare and aggressive histological variant of squamous cell carcinoma, characterized by tubular and alveolar patterns as a consequence of the acantholysis. We report a case of acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma in a 70-year-old woman, who was admitted to our institution for the progressively enlarging exophytic and ulcerated lesion. We report this interesting lesion due to the rarity of acantholytic variant of squamous cell carcinoma and the literature is briefly reviewed.

A rare acantholytic variant of squamous cell carcinoma of the maxilla: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is an uncommon histopathologic variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which is the most common malignancy of the oral cavity. Though ASCC showed poor prognosis, the exact diagnosis is challenging. PATIENTS CONCERNS: A 59-year-old female patient with 1-month long symptoms of pain and burning sensation in the right maxilla. DIAGNOSES: Incisional biopsy in the maxilla established the pathologic diagnosis of SCC. INTERVENTION: The patient underwent mass resection with near total maxillectomy. OUTCOMES: The final diagnosis through the microscopic examination was ASCC. Palliative chemotherapy was done to relive the symptoms after the recurrence, however, the patient died of the disease at 8 months after her initial presentation. LESSONS: Special attention should be paid to this variant of SCC because most patients with ASCC have a very poor prognosis.

Acantholytic dyskeratotic acanthoma: a variant of a benign keratosis.

Acantholytic acanthoma was originally described as a solitary lesion displaying histologic features of acantholysis without dyskeratosis. Solitary, non-genital lesions displaying confluent acantholysis and dyskeratosis have not been well described in the literature, clinically or histologically. We screened cases at our institution over a 6-month period and found 28 such lesions. Lesions were most often found on the trunk as a solitary papule, for which the clinical diagnosis was often basal cell carcinoma. There was a slight female predominance. Confluent acantholysis and dyskeratosis is a histologic pattern that may present as a solitary keratosis.

Paraneoplastic Itch Management.

Paraneoplastic itch occurs as the result of a systemic reaction to an underlying malignancy. Paraneoplastic itch is most commonly associated with lymphoproliferative malignancies and solid tumors that result in cholestasis. Paraneoplastic itch may occur in the absence of a primary rash or in association with dermatologic conditions such as erythroderma, acanthosis nigricans, dermatomyositis, Grover's disease, and eruptive seborrheic keratosis. Treatment of paraneoplastic itch is centered on targeting the underlying malignancy responsible for the systemic reaction. In cases of malignancy that are refractive to treatment, other therapies have been found to be effective for paraneoplastic itch, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, mirtazapine, gabapentin, thalidomide, opioids, aprepitant, and histone deacetylase inhibitors.

Uses for immunofluorescence tests of skin and sera. Utilization of immunofluorescence in the diagnosis of bullous diseases, lupus erythematosus, and certain other dermatoses.

Sera and frozen biopsy specimens taken for immunofluorescence can be of diagnostic value in studies of vesiculobullous eruptions and connective tissue diseases. Appropriate handling of specimens is important. In cases of pemphigus and pemphigoid, findings of typical antibodies in sera and immunoglobulin deposits in skin sections serve to establish the diagnoses. Fluctuations in titers of pemphigus antibodies afford a prognistic guide. IgA deposits at the dermoepidermal junction in patients with vesiculobullous eruptions are diagnostic of dermatitis herpetiformis. Elevated titers of antinuclear antibodies, frequently with a peripheral pattern, and DNA antibodies as well as junctional deposits of immunoglobulins or complement or both in the apparently uninvolved skin are highly characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus, more or less typical patterns of immunoglobulin and complement deposits in the lesion appear in discoid lupus erythematosus, porphyrias, and some other dermatoses.