Patterns of Cutaneous Metastasis

Abstract

Patterns of cutaneous metastasis were studied in 724 patients in whom there was histopathologic confirmation of both the primary tumor and the secondary deposit in skin. The most frequent primary tumors in men were carcinoma of the lung (24%), carcinoma of the large intestine (19%), melanoma (13%), and squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (12%). The most common primary tumors in women were carcinoma of the breast (69%), carcinoma of the large intestine (9%), melanoma (5%), and carcinoma of the ovary (4%). Metastatic lesions were infrequent on the skin of the lower extremities and common on the anterior part of the trunk. They were recognized before the primary tumor relatively often in carcinoma of the lung and kidney, and rarely in carcinoma of the breast and squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.