title: Cutaneous metastasis: clinicopathological study of 72 patients from a tertiary care center in Lebanon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cutaneous metastasis is the result of malignant cell spread from primary malignancy to the skin. This is not uncommon, and rates reported in the literature are as high as 10.4%. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies assessing the epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathological features of cutaneous metastasis in our region.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the clinical and histopathological findings of all patients diagnosed with cutaneous metastasis at the American University of Beirut - Medical Center (AUB-MC) and to compare our findings with those published in the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective clinical and histopathologic evaluation of all cases diagnosed as cutaneous metastasis at AUB-MC between 1992 and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 72 patients (50 females and 22 males) were identified. The mean age at diagnosis was 55.2 years. The most common primary cancer was breast cancer in women and laryngeal cancer in men. The most common clinical presentation was a single nodule in 27% of cases followed by multiple nodules in 23%. Cutaneous metastasis lesions were asymptomatic in the majority. The chest was the most commonly affected site. On microscopy, the majority of metastatic cases were adenocarcinomas (74%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is, to our knowledge, the first study characterizing the epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological features of cutaneous metastasis in the Lebanese population. The clinical and histopathological features observed were in concordance with the published literature, with minor differences.
authors.affiliation: Departments of DermatologyPathology and Laboratory Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Jinane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: El Khoury
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khalifeh
authors.forename: Abdul-Ghani
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kibbi
authors.forename: Ossama
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abbas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001415:Back; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary*; D013909:Thorax; D055815:Young Adult