Rhabdomyosarcoma Presenting as a Cutaneous Nodule

Two patients with rhabdomyosarcoma presented clinically with dermal nodules on the face. The first patient was a 12-month-old girl with a 2 × 3-cm-diameter red nodule on her left cheek that had begun as a small red papule when she was 3 months old and had progressively increased in size. The second patient was a 19-year-old girl who presented with an enlarging mass on her right cheek that had begun as a pea-sized nodule three months previously. In both cases, biopsies revealed a rhabdomyosarcoma in the underlying soft tissue with extension into the overlying dermis. Rhabdomyosarcoma presenting as a dermal nodule is rare. It usually presents as an asymptomatic papule without distinctive clinical features and therefore may result in delayed diagnosis unless a biopsy is performed. (Arch Dermatol 1988;124:1687-1690).