Development of Marjolin's ulcer within one month of burn injury with synchronous primary lung squamous cell carcinoma in an elderly patient: report of a case with allelotyping

Abstract

Marjolin's ulcer defines the occurrence of malignancy, usually squamous cell carcinoma, in the setting of a post-traumatic scar often following thermal injury. The latency period from the time of injury to the onset of malignant transformation averages 30 years with the earliest documented incidence occurring 6 weeks after injury. In addition, the occurrence of multiple primary malignancies is a rare event. To our knowledge, we report the first case in the literature of a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma developing within 1 month of thermal injury to an elderly patient's right index finger with an incidental synchronous primary lung moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma that was morphologically and genetically different as confirmed by allelotyping. There is scant precedent literature on acute Marjolin's ulcers, and the most acute cases have arisen 6 weeks post-burn. There is also little published literature on the incidence of multiple primary malignancies. The quoted incidence of this event is <1%. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of malignant transformation at the site of prior thermal injury. Biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis for Marjolin's ulcer. MRI is the most important diagnostic imaging tool because it will demonstrate the margins and extent of the lesion. Due to the aggressive nature of Marjolin's ulcer, treatment is usually surgical and dependent upon grading. When multiple lesions are detected after staging of a presumed neoplasm, the possibility of multiple primary maligancies should be considered. Allelotyping is a process that can be utilized to determine if multiple masses are related.