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Pathologic examination of an excisional biopsy specimen of a subepidermal nodule from the nasal tip of a 37-year-old black man demonstrated papillae covered by eosinophilic columnar epithelial cells, suggesting cylindric cell papilloma or well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma of nasal mucosa. The patient did not submit to further investigation of the sinonasal tract but sought attention 15 months later because of local recurrence of the lesion. A protuberant, 3-cm, cystic nodule of the subcutis over the left nasal ala and tip was excised completely and found to have characteristics of hidradenoma papilliferum, an apocrine gland neoplasm most commonly occurring in the anogenital skin of white women. This case demonstrates how easily an apocrine neoplasm arising near a mucocutaneous junction can be confused with a mucosal tumor, potentially leading to inappropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]