title: Unusually large colon cancer cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases occurring in resection scars.
abstract: Development of cutaneous metastases from colon cancer is a rare event, usually occurring in the setting of diffusely-disseminated disease and commonly carrying a dismal prognosis. Cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases in surgical scars occur extremely rarely, with only a few cases reported. We describe two cases of cutaneous metastases from colon cancer. A 62-year-old woman developed an 11-cm midline abdominal mass that slowly grew on the skin surface. The mass occurred at the scar site of her previous surgery performed 5 years prior for resection of a colon adenocarcinoma. A 46-year-old male presented with a subcutaneous 4.5-cm nodule in midline-abdominal scar, 3 years after resection of the primary colon cancer. These cases illustrate the pathological features and natural history of cutaneous metastases observed until the tumors have reached a very large size. Particular features of cutaneous scar metastases from colon cancer observed in our cases are a superficial pattern of spread, strong positivity for EGFR, low serum carcinoembrionic antigen, and long survival of the patients, possibly contributed to by the use of chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Center, New York Medical College, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10466, USA. mddoru@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Doru T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Alexandrescu
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vaillant
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Yahr
authors.forename: Pond
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kelemen
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Wiernik
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000150:complications*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue