Cylindromas are benign tumours arising as small, solitary, slow-growing nod
ules on the head and neck. Multiple cylindromas may form a 'turban tumour'
in the autosomal dominant Brooke-Spiegler syndrome. We report two unusual c
ases of multiple cylindromas with transformation into cylindrocarcinomas. T
he first patient, a 63-year-old white woman, developed a cylindrocarcinoma
on pre-existing multiple cylindromas on her right shoulder. Eight months af
ter resection she developed a lymph node metastasis in the right axilla. Th
e second patient, a 68-year-old white woman, presented with multiple cylind
romas of the scalp. One of these transformed into a cylindrocarcinoma, infi
ltrating the dura mater, with local recurrence 2 years after incomplete res
ection and postoperative radiation.