Cutaneous metastasis of colorectal cancer

Abstract

Cutaneous metastases from internal malignant neoplasms are a rare event and a late clinical finding that is associated with disseminated disease and a poor prognosis. Skin metastases from colon tumors occur in only 4% of cases of metastatic colorectal cancer. They are most often located on the abdominal skin. We report a case of 54-year-old male patient with a cutaneous metastatic focus on the lower abdomen as the initial presenting symptom of an underlying colon cancer.

Figure 1

A - Vegetative and ulcerated tumor, with granular and bleeding base, measuring 6cm in diameter and located on the left flank. In the surrounding area, erythema and prominent infiltration; B - Close-up of the lesion

Figure 2

Histopathological exam. A - Metastatic adenocarcinoma - neoplasm composed of well-formed ductal structures that had infiltrated the dermis, whose epithelium was composed of columnar cells of pleomorphic vesicular nuclei, with more than one nucleolus and frequent atypical mitotic figures. The fibrovascular stroma showed erythrocyte extravasation and a mixed inflammatory reaction of lymphocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils, fibrosis and ectatic vessels (Hematoxylin & eosin, x100);