title: Palliative surgical treatment for cutaneous metastatic tumor is a valid option for improvement of quality of life.
abstract: A cutaneous metastatic tumor is relatively rare, and patients with such a tumor usually have a poor prognosis. Even if the metastases can be treated, the treatment cannot improve the prognosis. However, neglecting metastatic lesions sometimes results in a great deterioration of quality of life. Cutaneous metastatic foci are generally treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. On the other hand, surgical treatment is sometimes chosen for cutaneous metastases. In this study, we analyzed data for 40 patients with cutaneous metastatic tumors who received surgical treatment at Shizuoka Cancer Center between January 2009 and August 2014. Among these cases, lung cancer was the most common primary cancer and the craniocervical region was the most frequent metastatic site. Among the patients who died, the average duration to death after the operation was 186 days. We consider that resection of cutaneous metastatic tumors as palliative therapy is an appropriate therapeutic option if the patient's condition permits resection. Such treatment can improve quality of life for both the patients and their families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.|Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Omodaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shusuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiyohara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: cutaneous metastatic tumor; palliative therapy; prognosis; quality of life; surgery