Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul;314(5):399-403.
doi: 10.1007/s00403-021-02241-y. Epub 2021 May 15.

Trichoblastic carcinoma: a comprehensive review of the literature

Michelle A Boettler  1 , Kathryn T Shahwan  2 , Nadia Y Abidi  2   3 , David R Carr  4
Affiliations
Review

Trichoblastic carcinoma: a comprehensive review of the literature

Michelle A Boettler et al. Arch Dermatol Res. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Trichoblastic carcinoma is a rare neoplasm thought to arise from malignant degeneration of benign follicular tumors. Its clinical features, optimal treatment, and outcomes remain largely unknown. We performed a comprehensive review of the existing trichoblastic carcinoma literature. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for keywords related to trichoblastic carcinoma, and additional articles were found in reference lists. Cases with a histopathologic diagnosis of trichoblastic carcinoma were summarized. A total of 93 cases have been described, all in case reports or case series. The average age was 65, with 66.7% of cases in males. A minority of patients had familial tumor syndromes or a history of radiation at the site, and only one was reported to be immunosuppressed. The most common site was the face (48.4%), and the majority developed de novo (87.1%). The clinical presentation was highly variable. Although most cases (82.8%) were successfully treated with surgery alone, a subset of patients had more aggressive disease including local progression or recurrence in five cases, nodal metastases in five cases, and distant metastases in three cases. Trichoblastic carcinoma is a rare malignancy with the potential for aggressive behavior. Further research is needed to better characterize this neoplasm.

Keywords: Adnexal neoplasms; Follicular neoplasms; Malignant trichoblastoma; Trichoblastic carcinoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ackerman BR, Vijaya B, Soyer P (2001) Trichoblastic carcinoma. In: Ackerman BR, Vijaya B, Soyer P (eds) Neoplasms with follicular differentiation, 2nd edn. Ardor Scribendi, pp 625–1005
    1. Azouz H, Bouraoui S, Abdelmoula F, Blel A et al (2010) Trichoblastome malin: entité nouvellement définie. À propos d’un cas développé sur un trichoépithéliome. Oncologie 12(1):34–39 - DOI
    1. Battistella M, Mateus C, Lassau N, Chami L et al (2010) Sunitinib efficacy in the treatment of metastatic skin adnexal carcinomas: report of two patients with hidradenocarcinoma and trichoblastic carcinoma. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 24(2):199–203 - DOI
    1. Berniolles P, Okhremchuk I, Valois A, Aymonier M et al (2019) Giant trichoblastic carcinoma: 3 cases. Ann Dermatol Venereol 146(12):828–831 - DOI
    1. Fazaa B, Cribier B, Zaraa I, Zermani R et al (2007) Low-dose X-ray depilatory treatment induces trichoblastic tumors of the scalp. Dermatology 215(4):301–307 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources