Case of Autotransplanted Cutaneous Cancer in Man

Abstract

A man of 25 years underwent surgical treatment for a recurrence of an undifferentiated skin carcinoma of the dorsal aspect of the right hand: fascia and muscles were infiltrated by the tumor and enlarged axillary nodes were palpable. The right forearm was amputated immediately under the elbow with axillary node dissection. The patient presented another cutaneous lesion of the abdominal skin, with the same histology at the site of a plastic operation previously performed, by the pocket-technique, for the same disease as that of the hand, at another hospital. The second tumor must be considered a true auto transplant: the case described leads to a brief discussion on tumoral auto-transplantations and some pratical implications of the problem.