Basal cell carcinoma arising 57 years after interstitial radiotherapy of a nasal hemangioma.

Cutaneous hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors that represent the most common benign tumor of infancy. These tumors characteristically have an early phase of rapid proliferation followed by a slower regression phase; over 90% of cutaneous hemangiomas will regress completely by age 10. Irradiation of infantile hemangiomas was commonly performed in the 1950s and 1960s, but this treatment was largely abandoned after the long-term risks of radiotherapy and the benign nature of most hemangiomas were appreciated.