Spectrum of cutaneous metastasis from internal malignancies : A study of clinico-pathological and survival evaluation of 126 patients

Dr. Veenita Yogi; Dr.O.P.Singh; Dr.Manish Ahirwar; Dr.Varsha Mandloi

Volume : VII, Issue : V, May - 2018

Spectrum of cutaneous metastasis from internal malignancies : A study of clinico-pathological and survival evaluation of 126 patients

Dr. Veenita Yogi, Dr. O. P. Singh, Dr. Manish Ahirwar, Dr. Varsha Mandloi

Abstract :

Cutaneous metastasis (CM) from internal malignancy are relatively uncommon and accounts for 0.7% to 9%. CM may herald the diagnosis of internal malignancy, and early recognition can lead to accurate and prompt diagnosis and timely treatment .The most common cancer metastasizing to the skin are east , lung, colorectal and melanoma.

Material and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 126 patients of CM registered in the department between year 2007 to 2016.All the patients were histopathologically proven primary and cutaneous lesions. CM were analyzed on the basis of type and site of presentation, other distant visceral and skeletal metastasis, time interval between primary malignancy and development of cutaneous metastasis and survival.

Results:This study included 50 males (39.6 %) and 76 females (60.3 % ) with a median age of 46.5 years ( range 16–80 years). The presence of CM in different body sites were abdomen (49.2 %) , chest (44.4 %), extremities ( 17.4 %), face (15.8 %), back (12.6 %), surgical scar (12.6 %), scalp (11 %),inguinal region (8 %), and east (6.3 %). Eighty two percent of the patients were presented with nodular lesions.CM was the first sign of internal malignancy in 14 patients from different malignancies.Thirty patients presented with CM on surgical scar from different primary malignancies.Fourpatients presented with metastasis in female east .Scalp metastasis was exhibited in 21 patients .The survival of the patients after recognition of the cutaneous metastasis ranged from one to 46 months , depending on tumor type. Overall mean survival time was 13.54 (11.5–15.6) months. Overall survival comparison using log rank hypothesis was done with chi–square statistic value of 14.673 ( p–0.023) with 95% confidence limit.

Conclusion: CM are important to recognize early, they often dramatically alters treatment plan. The appearance of these cutaneous metastasis signals widespread distant and systemic metastatic internal malignancy, resulting in poor outcome and patient survival.