Dermatology: Practical and Conceptual


Letter  |  Dermatol Pract Concept 2020;10(1):e2020015 1

Dermatology Practical & Conceptual

Introduction

Dermatofibroma (DF) is one of the most frequent skin 

tumors. Several histopathological variants have been 

described, including fibrous histiocytoma (accounting for 

80% of cases), aneurysmal, hemosiderotic, epithelioid, 

cellular, lipidized, atrophic, and clear cell variant. DF has 

slight female predominance and is mostly localized on the 

limbs. Eruptive DFs have been described in association with 

pregnancy and immunosuppression. In almost 80% of cases, 

the epidermis overlying DF shows changes that range from 

simple hyperplasia to the proliferation of basaloid cells, 

morphologically indistinguishable from basal cell carcinoma 

(BCC) [1]. We report a case of collision tumor consisting of 

DF and BCC.

Case Presentation

A 56-year-old woman presented with a papulonodular, ery-

thematous, partially pigmented lesion, 18 × 8 mm in size, on 

her right thigh (Figure 1A). The lesion was firm on palpation, 

revealing a pinch (dimple) sign. Dermoscopy revealed 2 parts 

of the tumor, a pale pink amorphous area with white areas 

and blue-gray ovoid nests, specks of pigment, and spoke-

wheel pigmentation (Figure 1B). The tumor was surgically 

removed. Histopathology confirmed 2 different parts of 

the lesion (Figure 1, C and D), 1 encapsulated in the dermis 

consisting of mixture of fibroblasts and histiocytes arranged 

between collagen fibers (DF) and the other, under the over-

lying acantholytic epidermis, a dermal tumor consisting of 

islets of atypical basaloid cells forming a palisading pattern 

at the periphery (BCC).

Conclusions

Only several cases of BCC overlying DF have been reported 

in the literature [2]. We may assume, as have other authors, 

that basaloid proliferations (basal cell-like changes) and 

BCCs (true neoplastic lesions) are a result of the inductive 

Basal Cell Carcinoma Overlying a Dermatofibroma: 
A Rare Collision Tumor

Sandra Jerkovic Gulin,1 Davorin Loncaric,2 Jaka Rados2

1 Department of Infectious Diseases, Dermatology, and Venereology, General Hospital Sibenik, Croatia

2 Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia

Key words: basal cell carcinoma, dermatofibroma, dermoscopy, collision tumors, histopathology

Citation: Jerkovic Gulin S, Loncaric D, Rados J. Basal cell carcinoma overlying a dermatofibroma: a rare collision tumor. Dermatol Pract 
Concept. 2020;10(1):e2020015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1001a15

Accepted: October 1, 2019; Published: December 31, 2019

Copyright: ©2019 Jerkovic Gulin et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are 
credited.

Funding: None.

Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Authorship: All authors have contributed significantly to this publication.

Corresponding author: Sandra Jerkovic Gulin, MD, Department of Infectious Diseases, Sibenik General Hospital, Stjepana Radića 83, 
22221 Sibenik, Croatia. Email: sandrajerkovicgulin@gmail.com

mailto:sandrajerkovicgulin@gmail.com


2 Letter  |  Dermatol Pract Concept 2020;10(1):e2020015

References

1. Zaccaria E, Rebora A, Rongioletti F. Multiple eruptive dermatofi-

bromas and immunosuppression: report of two cases and review 

of the literature. Int J Dermatol. 2008;47(7):723-727.

2. Córdoba S, Hernández A, Romero A, et al. Basal cell carcinoma over-

lying a dermatofibroma. Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2005;96(9):612-615.

effect of DF and its fibrohistiocytic proliferation on the 

epithelial cells of the hair follicle [2]. This letter highlights 

the importance of dermoscopy and dermoscopic criteria in 

collision lesions in order not to miss skin cancer and gives a 

dermoscopic/histopathological description of a BCC and DF 

in a collision lesion.

Figure 1. (A) Clinical view: papulonodular, erythematous, partially pigmented lesion, 18 × 8 mm on the right thigh. (B) Dermoscopic view: 

2 parts of the tumor, a pale pink amorphous area with white areas and blue-gray ovoid nests, specks of pigment, and spoke-wheel pigmenta-

tion. (C,D) Histopathology: 1 part of the lesion is encapsulated in the dermis consisting of a mixture of fibroblasts and histiocytes arranged 

between collagen fibers (dermatofibroma) and the other, under the overlying acantholytic epidermis, a dermal tumor consisting of islets of 

atypical basaloid cells in a palisading pattern at the periphery (basal cell carcinoma) (H&E, ×20).