Non-umbilical Cutaneous Metastasis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma as the First Clinical Manifestation: A Case Report

• Main Authors: Ji In Moon, Ji Young Park, Tae Joo Jeon, Jung Min Choi, Won Chang Shin, June Min Sung, Young Moon Kim, Hyun-Jung Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Jin Publishing & Printing Co. 2016-10-01
• Series: The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology
• Subjects: Pancreatic neoplasms; Cutaneous; Neoplasm metastasis; Immunohistochemistry
• Online Access: http://www.kjg.or.kr/journal/view.html?doi=10.4166/kjg.2016.68.4.221

Non-umbilical cutaneous metastases from pancreatic adenocarcinomas are extremely rare. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature. An 83-year-old Korean woman, with no previous medical history, presented with a painful nodule on her scalp. Histologic examination of the nodule revealed a metastatic adenocarcinoma, and immunohistochemical staining was positive for cytokeratin (CK) 7 and CK 19. These findings were consistent with a metastatic carcinoma of pancreatic origin. An abdominal computed tomography scan identified a mass on the pancreatic head and multiple enlarged lymph nodes. Pathological examination of an endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy of the pancreatic mass determined that it was a poorly differentiated carcinoma. The patient refused any treatment owing to her old age and short life expectancy. Four months later, the disease progressed rapidly, and the patient died. (Korean J Gastroenterol 2016;68:221-224)