Basaloid variant of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung: Report of a case and review of the literature

Basaloid variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung is rare and mostly observed in the proximal bronchi. We report a patient with a peripheral lung basaloid variant of SCC who underwent lobectomy. A 77-year-old woman with a history of smoking presented to our department with a two-year history of a growing lung tumor in the left lower lobe. FDG-PET/CT scan was positive. She underwent thoracoscopic lung wedge resection, followed by lobectomy. Frozen sectioning revealed a poorly differentiated carcinoma. The final pathological diagnosis was a stage IA basaloid variant of SCC. She was alive without evidence of recurrence at 31 months. In this case, basaloid variant of SCC of the lung was diagnosed both morphologically and immunohistochemically, excluding large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma.