title: Tripe palms and malignancy.
abstract: Tripe palms are characterized clinically by thickened velvety palms with pronounced dermatoglyphics. We describe two patients with triple palms and pulmonary tumors, and review the 77 patients with idiopathic- and malignancy-associated tripe palms reported in the world literature. The majority (94%) of published cases of tripe palms occurred in patients with cancer; only five patients showed no evidence of an associated malignancy. Tripe palms were frequently seen in conjunction with acanthosis nigricans (77% of cases), although they can occur alone (23% of cases). In cancer patients with tripe palms alone, the most common underlying neoplasm was pulmonary carcinoma (53% of cases), whereas patients with both tripe palms and acanthosis nigricans frequently had gastric (35% of cases) or pulmonary (11% of cases) carcinomas. A wide variety of other solid tumors have also been observed. Importantly, in over 40% of patients, tripe palms were the presenting feature of a previously undiagnosed malignancy. Therefore, all patients with tripe palms should be evaluated with a full diagnostic work-up for an associated malignancy, particularly lung or gastric carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kurzrock
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*