title: Diffuse cutaneous metastases as the only sign of extranodal tumor spread in a patient with adenocarcinoma of the colon.
abstract: Cutaneous metastases from large bowel cancer are uncommon and are usually associated with organ involvement. Localization of lesions to the skin is mainly attributed to vascular and anatomical relationship, since most of them are seen in the abdominal wall or in a surgical scar. We report a 73-year-old woman in whom metastatic nodules from a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the right colon developed throughout the skin (buttock, trunk, chest wall, arms, and neck) and remained the only sign of extranodal tumor spread until patient's death, seven months later. This unusual behaviour suggests that localization of neoplastic cells to the skin may be a site-specific process, determined by adhesion molecules and/or by growth factors found at that site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Siena, Policlinico le Scotte, Viale Bracci, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Serenella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Civitelli
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Civitelli
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martellucci
authors.forename: Gabriello
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tanzini
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