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Cutaneous Metastases

»	How often do internal malignancies metastasize to the skin?
»	By what three routes do internal malignancies metastasize to the skin?
»	How do malignant cells invade and metastasize?
»	What are the most common cancers that metastasize to the skin in women?
»	What are the most common cancers that metastasize to the skin in men?
»	Do metastases to the skin typically occur in random patterns?
»	Describe the most common presentations of malignancies metastatic to the skin.
»	What is alopecia neoplastica?
»	What is a Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule?
»	Which tumors usually present as a Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule?
»	Does basal cell carcinoma ever metastasize?
»	How do you diagnose a cutaneous metastasis?
»	What is the prognosis of a patient with a cutaneous metastasis?

What are the most common cancers that metastasize to the skin in women?

Different gender and age groups are affected by somewhat different metastatic malignancies. In a large study done at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in the early 1970s, the most common etiologies of cutaneous metastases in women were:

Breast carcinoma: 69%
Colon: 9%
Malignant melanoma: 5%
Ovary: 4%
Lung: 4%

Because of the rapid increase in the incidence of lung carcinoma and malignant melanoma in women, it is likely that metastatic disease from these two malignancies is now more common than reported in this study.

Brownstein MH, Helwig EB: Spread of tumors to the skin, Arch Dermatol 107:80–86, 1973.