Introduction: primary malignant neoplasms of the apocrine glands are rare, accounting for less than one percent of all primary malignant skin lesions. Cutaneous apocrine carcinoma presents characteristics similar to those of cutaneous metastases from breast carcinoma, which makes its diagnostic differentiation very difficult. Objective: the objective of this case report was to demonstrate the difficulty in differentiating the diagnosis between the tumor mentioned being primary to the sweat gland or being a metastasis of breast carcinoma. Methods: this is a descriptive, retrospective study with a qualitative approach, in the form of a clinical case report, carried out based on the records available in the patient’s medical records. Data were collected regarding the patient’s previous history, current history, diagnostic hypotheses, treatments performed, and complementary exams performed. Result: the authors describe the case of an 86-year-old patient who was diagnosed with mucinous carcinoma in a recurrent lesion on the scalp and describe the difficulties encountered and the resources used to elucidate the diagnosis between whether this was a primary adnexal tumor of the sweat gland of the skin or metastatic neoplasia of the breast. Conclusion: the pathologist’s resources alone are not sufficient to reach a differential diagnosis between primary mucinous carcinoma of the skin and cutaneous metastasis of a primary mucinous carcinoma of the breast, requiring an extensive correlation with clinical data and imaging exams for a better diagnostic conclusion regarding the primary site of the neoplasia.
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