Axilla refers the area under the arm. Keloids rarely form in the axillary area. The case presented here was a 40-year-old Asian female who sought medical care from Dr. Tirgan in September 2014 for an extensive fungating tumoral keloid that had formed under her right arm (axilla). Her history dated back to several years ago when she developed a skin tag in her right axilla. The skin tag was surgically removed and soon thereafter, a keloid formed at the site of surgery. Subsequently, repeated surgeries were performed to remove the keloid, however, each surgery led to a worse recurrence. The result is depicted here as a massive keloid covering much of the right axilla.

In managing tumors that grow in axillary area, especially in women, one must always exclude the possibility of metastatic breast cancer involving the axilla. Therefore, a biopsy was performed from this tumor to be make certain that this process was not cancerous.
The biopsy result was consistent with the diagnosis of keloid. The patient was then treated with repeated cycles of cryotherapy to reduce the bulk of this keloid. The video below shows the first application of cryotherapy to this keloid.

Significant reduction in the mass of this keloid was achieved with few cycles of cryotherapy. The photograph below shows the result of the treatment. Unfortunately, due to its advanced nature, the keloid process had invaded the deep tissue in axilla. Had this keloid at its onset been treated with cryotherapy, as opposed to surgery, the outcome would have been significantly better.