Skin Metastasis in Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer

Between 1976 and 1991, 21 patients (4.5%) developed metastasis to the skin among 468 patients with lung cancer treated in the Medical Oncology Department of Okayama University Hospital. Histologically, adenocarcinoma (6.7%) was frequent. Clinical manifestations of skin metastasis consisted of nodular type in 17 patients (single 3, multiple 14), erysipelatous carcinoma in 2 patients, and cancer en cuirasse in 2 patients. At the development of skin metastasis, all cases were accompanied by metastases in other organs. Median survival time after development of skin metastasis was only 3.6 months. These results indicate that skin metastasis is a part of the process of systemic metastasis and that the prognosis after development of skin metastasis is poor.