Cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases of adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum

ABSTRACT

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>The interesting topic of cutaneous and subcutaneous metastasis from rectal carcinoma is discussed using 3 cases.</p><p><b>CLINICAL PICTURE</b>The first case was a 70-year-old man with T3N2M0 rectal mucinous adenocarcinoma, who developed an inflammatory subcutaneous metastasis at the left scapula 2 years after anterior resection. The second case was a 51-year-old man with T4N2M0 splenic flexure mucinous adenocarcinoma, who developed metastatic disease including a subcutaneous secondary to the back. The third case was a 53-year-old woman who developed vulval recurrence 10 months after abdomino-perineal resection for a low T3N1M0 rectal adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>TREATMENT</b>All underwent wide resection.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This entity is rare and usually signifies disseminated disease if found remote from the resection site and warrants a thorough metastatic work up. A high index of suspicion is recommended when encountered with unresolving skin lesions in cancer patients.</p>