Cutaneous metastases from internal carcinoma

A series of 36 patients having cutaneous metastases, including 32 necropsied cases in necropsy series of approximately 2,300 cases of internal carcinoma derived from the Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital. The lung was the primary site in 17 of the 36 cases, the gastro‐intestinal tract in 8 and the genito‐urinary tract in 10; the primary site of one was uncertain. The tumors of the lung most commonly metastasized to the skin of the chest and those of the gastro‐intestinal tract and genitourinary tract to the abdominal wall. The skin metastases were multiple except for 4 cases, usually widespread in location and occasionally appeared in small crops. The tumors were most commonly solid painless elevated nodules, ranging from one to 3 cm in diameter, having an intact overlying epidermis. The microscopic appearance had features of adenocarcinoma in 26 of the 36 cases. The skin tumors were indicative of progression of the primary tumor and early fatal termination, the duration of life averaging about 3 months after the appearance of the skin tumors. The necropsies revealed widespread metastases.