A case of granular cell basal cell carcinoma

Granular cell basal cell carcinoma is a rare histopathologic variant of basal cell carcinoma in which some or all of the neoplastic cells show cytologic features of granular cells. These distinctive cells contain abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm housing numerous fine and coarse refractile granules. The 62-year-old man presented with a 5-year history of asymptomatic, solitary 1 cm-diameter, hemispherical, brown to black, smooth-surfaced, hard nodule on the left chest. The histopathological features showed a tumor with the general configuration of a solid basal cell carcinoma, in which there were masses of granular cells with eosinophilic and granular cytoplasm. The tumor was positive for cytokeratin and negative for lysozyme and PAS. Surgical excision was performed.