Verrucous carcinoma

Verrucous carcinoma, also verrucous squamous cell carcinoma, is an uncommon variant of squamous cell carcinoma that may be challenging to diagnose.

General

• Good prognosis.
• Histomorphologically deceptively bland, i.e. non-malignant appearing.
• Wart-like (verruca = wart).
• The clinical history, e.g. huge verrucous cancer, is often important for making the diagnosis.

Microscopic

Features:

• Exophytic growth.
• Well-differentiated.
• "Glassy" appearance.
• Pushing border - described "elephant feet".

DDx:

• Papilloma.
• Wart.

Images

• Verrucous carcinoma (juniordentist.com).
• Verrucous SCC (pathologyoutlines.com).

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Biopsy

Mouth Lesion, Hard Palate, Biopsy:
	- Squamous mucosa with keratinization and verrucous features, see comment.

Comment:
A clinic note describes a 2 cm mass of the hard palate. The clinical impression is noted. Correlation with imaging and the clinical features is recommended.  	

Micro

The sections show superficial squamous mucosa with keratinization and church spire-like structures. Mild basal cellular changes are present. Significant nuclear atypia is absent. Minimal stroma with mild inflammation is present.

See also

• Squamous cell carcinoma.