Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx: case report

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma that most often occurs in the upper aerodigestive tract. This type of tumor has an aggressive behavior and usually is diagnosed in the advances stage. The diagnosis of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is rather difficult and is based on histopathological and immunohistochemical examination. We report a case of laryngeal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed by histological examination of a excisional biopsy specimen. The patient was a 57-year old female with a 3 months-history hoarseness and odynophagia. The histopathological aspect was strongly suggestive for BSCC. Immunohistochemical examination has been done using a panel of biomarkers in order to confirm our initial diagnose. The tumors nests were positive for squamous epithelial marker citokeratin 34βE12, AE1/AE3, CK 19 and also p53 and negative for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), vimentin and for neuroendocrine markers. Ki- 67 marker was positive in 60% of the tumoral cells. Based on histopathological and immunohistochemical findings, the tumor was diagnosed as basaloid squamous cell carcinoma.