A case of clear cell bowen disease

Abstract

Cutaneous clear cell squamous cell carcinoma in situ (SCQS) or clear cell Bowen disease is an unusual variant of SCCIS characterized by a variable component of large clear cells. We report a case of a 73-year-old woman with a solitary facial erythematous nodule. Histologically, the skin lesion revealed nests of atypical clear cells with markedly vacuolated cytoplasm in the upper layer, lack of maturation and lack of polarity of keratinocytes in the epidermis. Electron microscopy showed clear cells with many empty spaces and lysosome-like structures, suggestive of clear cell changes caused by degenerative phenomenon.