Cutaneous Metastasis from Internal Malignancy

Kim, You Chan; Cho, Kwang Hyun; Lee, Yoo Shin; Ham, Eui Keun

Abstract

We reviewed clinical records and histologic materials of 96 cases of metastatic skin cancer in Seoul National University Hospital from January 1973 to July 1986. The metastatic skin cancers of male were twice as many as that of female and they occurred most frequently in male at their fifties, female, forties. The most frequent primary cancers in men were carcinoma of the stomach, lung, colorectum and pancreas; in women, carcinoma of the breast, stomach, lung and uterine cervix. Cutaneous metastases from the carcinomas of the liver, uterine cervix and stomach which were many in Korea were smaller in number than that from the carcinomas of the lung and breast. Metastatic lesions were recognized before the primary tumor relatively often in carcinoma of the lung, pancreas and rarely in carcinoma of the uterine cervix, stomach. Though localizations of cutaneous metasta.sis were widespread over all body surfaces, regional areas of primary tumor were predisposed to metastasis. Metastatic carcinoma usually produced nonspecific nodules in the skin. Less commonly, some lesions of metastasis showed inflammatory or sclerotic plaque. The histologic findinga of cutaneous metastases generally mimicked that of primary tumors; nevertheless, in most instances, it was not possible to recognize the original tumor from a histologic examination of metastatic skin cancer and it was possible to classify the metastatic carcinoma only as an adenocarcinoma, a squamous cell carcinoma or an undifferntiated carcinoma.