Lung Cancer with Skin and Breast Metastasis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in America. Frequent sites of metastasis include the Hilar lymph nodes, adrenal glands, liver, brain, and bone. The following case report is of a primary lung cancer with metastases to the breast and skin. Case. A 48-year-old African American male with a past medical history of poorly differentiated left breast cancer status after modified radical mastectomy (MRM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and smoking (20 pack-years) presents to the ER with progressive shortness of breath on exertion, upper back pain, and weight loss for 2 months in duration. On physical examination he is found to have a MRM scar on his left breast and a left periumbilical cutaneous mass. Chest X-ray and chest CT reveal a right upper lobe mass and biopsies from the breast, lung, and the periumbilical mass indicate a poorly differentiated carcinoma of unclear etiology; all tumor markers are negative. The patient is male and a chronic smoker; therefore the diagnosis is made as lung carcinoma with metastases to the breast and skin. Conclusion. A high index of suspicion for cutaneous metastases should be cast when investigating cutaneous pathologies in patients at risk for primary lung malignancy.