Cutaneous metastasis from pancreatic cancer: A case report and systematic review of the literature

Cutaneous metastasis from pancreatic cancer is uncommon, therefore, the outcome of this progression has rarely been investigated. The aim of the present report was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients exhibiting cutaneous metastasis from pancreatic cancer. Thus, the current report presents a rare case of cutaneous metastatic disease from pancreatic cancer and describes a systematic review of the literature. A total of 54 articles comprising 63 cases were included for analysis. The relevant clinical and pathological characteristics, as well as the treatment strategies and survival outcomes of this rare disease presentation were reviewed. The average patient was was aged 63.9 years and males constituted a marginally greater proportion of the cohort (61.9%). The predominant manifestation of the cutaneous metastasis was a nodule or mass (73%) and the most common site of the skin lesion was non-umbilicus rather than umbilicus. The majority (66.7%) of the skin lesions were singular, particularly in patients exhibiting Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule (90%). A wide range of histological subtypes presented, with a predominance of adenocarcinoma (84.1%). Of the cases that specified the tumor differentiation grade, 78.2% were moderately or poorly differentiated. Immunohistochemistry revealed that cytokeratin (CK)20-negative, and CK7-, CK19- and carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9-positive were specific diagnostic markers for pancreatic cancer. Distal metastases, excluding the skin, were observed in 68.3% of patients and the median survival period was 5 months. Treatment strategies including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination improved survival time from 3.0 to 8.3 months. Cutaneous metastasis from pancreatic cancer is a rare finding, often providing the only external indication of an internal malignancy and, therefore, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of skin lesions. Metastasis to the skin indicates a widespread, general dissemination and a poor prognosis. A combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy appears to result in improved survival rates.