Cutaneous metastasis resembling acute dermatitis in patient with advanced gastric cancer

Abstract

The most common metastatic sites from gastric cancer are the liver, intra-abdominal lymph nodes, ovary and peritoneal cavity. Cutaneous metastasis of gastric cancer is rare, and most cutaneous metastases are typically solitary, nodular, have a firm consistency, and are red or hyperpigmented. Thus, cutaneous metastasis is easily distinguished from other skin disease. We report a case of a 60-year-old woman with cutaneous metastasis of gastric cancer, whose facial skin showed painless pruritic eczema, resembling acute dermatitis. She had earlier undergone a total gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer in our hospital. After 14 months, she developed eczematous facial lesions; the presumptive diagnosis was acute dermatitis. However, skin biopsy unexpectedly revealed cutaneous metastasis of gastric cancer. After 6 months of systemic chemotherapy with capecitabine and cisplatin, the cutaneous metastasis was markedly improved and a clinically complete remission was accomplished.