Abstract
Cutaneous metastasis is an uncommon manifestation of visceral malignancy. Among all malignancies, the highest incidence of cutaneous metastasis is seen in breast cancer. Cutaneous metastasis can be the initial presentation of breast carcinoma. However, it usually presents a few months or years after the primary disease has been diagnosed and treated. Cutaneous metastases develop most commonly at the same time as internal metastases.3,8 The incidence of cutaneous metastases for all types of carcinomas ranges from 0.7% to 10.0%.3,5 A more recent meta-analysis demonstrated the overall incidence to be closer to 5.3%.4,5 We present herein a case of carcinoma breast in a 55-year-old female presenting initially with skin lesions on the chest wall. Further evaluation identified a bilateral breast mass with axillary metastasis and multiple nodules over the trunk and right thigh. There was also evidence of metastasis to the lungs, bilateral adrenals and mesenteric lymph nodes. FNAC of all the nodules revealed infiltrating duct carcinoma of the breast which was confirmed by excision biopsy.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Hu SC, Chen GS, Wu CS, Chai CY et al. Rates of cutaneous metastases from different internal malignancies: experience from a Taiwanese medical center. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2009; 60: 379–87
Krathen AR, Orengo FI, Rosen T. Cutaneous metastasis: a meta-analysis of data. Southern Medical Journal 2003; 96: 164–7
Lookingbill PD, Spangler N, Sexton FM. Skin involvement as the presenting sign of internal carcinoma: a retrospective study of 7316 cancer patients. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 1990; 22: 19–26
Nava G, Greer K, Patterson J, et al. Metastatic cutaneous breast carcinoma: A case report and review of the literature. The Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery 2009; 17: 25
Verônica Riquet de Siqueira, Aline Salmito Frota, Israel Leitão Maia, et al. Cutaneous involvement as the initial presentation of metastatic breast adenocarcinoma - Case report. An Bras Dermatol 2014; 89: 960–3
Mahmoud Rezk Abdelwahed. Skin metastasis: a pathologist’s perspective. Journal of Cutaneous Pathology 2010; 37:e1–e20
Mohammed Shafiuddin, Ravikiran HR, Prabhu Hubli. Carcinoma breast, distant cutaneous metastasis. Review literature of a case of multiple distant cutaneous metastasis from carcinoma breast. 2014; 3: 14835–9
Mordenti C, Peris K, Fargnoli MC, et al. Cutaneous metastatic breast carcinoma: a study of 164 patients. Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina Panonica et Adriatica 2000; 9: 143–8
Pakula AS, Robinson JK. Recognizing malignant skin changes following breast cancer. American Family Physician 1992; 45: 1287–92
Ahmed Farahat, Samah Mohamed, Adarsh Vijay, et al. Invasive duct carcinoma of the forearm; a rare case of distant, isolated ‘carcinoma en cuirasse’. J Surg Case Rep 2015; 6: rjv062
Navaratnam Annakan V, Sankaran Chandrasekharan. Remote cutaneous breast carcinoma metastasis mimicking dermatitis. Indian Journal of Dermatology 2015; 60: 106
Mahore SD, Bothale KA, Patrikar AD, Joshi AM. Carcinoma en cuirasse: A rare presentation of breast cancer. Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology 2010; 53: 351–8
Alligood-Percoco RN, Kessler SM, Willis G. Breast cancer metastasis to the vulva 20 years remote from initial diagnosis: A case report and literature review. Gynecologic Oncology Reports 2015
Manohar K, Mittal BR, Bhattacharya A, Singh G. Asymptomatic Distant Subcutaneous Metastases Detected by 18FFDG–PET/CT in a Patient with Breast Carcinoma. World J Nucl Med 2012; 11: 24–5
Vano-Galvan S, Moreno M, Salguero I. Cutaneous metastases of breast carcinoma: a case report. Cases J 2009; 2: 71
Glomset AD. The incidence of metastasis of malignant tumors to the adrenals. The American Journal of Cancer 1938; 32: 57–61
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dhar, P.P., Kumar, N., Rahman, Z. et al. A typical case of a widespread metastatic breast carcinoma. Hellenic J Surg 88, 278–282 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13126-016-0332-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13126-016-0332-8