Multiple cutaneous metastases from laryngeal carcinoma

FDG PET/CT in a rare case of multiple cutaneous metastases in carcinoma larynx

Distant metastases in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx have an incidence of 6.5-7.2% and most commonly involves the lungs, liver, and bone. Metastases to the skin are very rare, but, when present, they are usually considered a poor prognostic sign. This most often affect the supradiaphragmatic area, i.e., the head, neck, thorax, or upper extremities. We have reported 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) scan of a patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx showing multiple subcutaneous nodules all over the body, which was helpful in the assessment as well as staging of the disease.

Cutaneous metastases from internal malignancies: a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical review

Skin metastases occur in 0.6%-10.4% of all patients with cancer and represent 2% of all skin tumors. Skin metastases from visceral malignancies are important for dermatologists and dermatopathologists because of their variable clinical appearance and presentation, frequent delay and failure in their diagnosis, relative proportion of different internal malignancies metastasizing to the skin, and impact on morbidity, prognosis, and treatment. Another factor to take into account is that cutaneous metastasis may be the first sign of clinically silent visceral cancer. The relative frequencies of metastatic skin disease tend to correlate with the frequency of the different types of primary cancer in each sex. Thus, women with skin metastases have the following distribution in decreasing order of frequency of primary malignancies: breast, ovary, oral cavity, lung, and large intestine. In men, the distribution is as follows: lung, large intestine, oral cavity, kidney, breast, esophagus, pancreas, stomach, and liver. A wide morphologic spectrum of clinical appearances has been described in cutaneous metastases. This variable clinical morphology included nodules, papules, plaques, tumors, and ulcers. From a histopathologic point of view, there are 4 main morphologic patterns of cutaneous metastases involving the dermis, namely, nodular, infiltrative, diffuse, and intravascular. Generally, cutaneous metastases herald a poor prognosis. The average survival time of patients with skin metastases is a few months. In this article, we review the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of cutaneous metastases from internal malignancies, classify the most common cutaneous metastases, and identify studies that may assist in diagnosing the origin of a cutaneous metastasis.