Cutaneous metastatic disease in cervical cancer: a case report

Cervical cancer metastasizes to skin in < 2% of patients. Cutaneous metastases can be confused with dermatitis. Their presence signals a poor prognosis.

A 66-year-old postmenopausal woman with a diagnosis of stage IVa cervical carcinoma was treated with radical concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. Two months after completing treatment, the patient noted maculopapular skin lesions in the lower abdomen. These were confirmed on biopsy as metastases from the cervical cancer. The cutaneous metastases progressed rapidly to involve the inguinal regions, vulva, and perineum. Further assessment ruled out metastases to other organs. Despite six courses of palliative combination chemotherapy, the patient's disease progressed, and she died six months after the appearance of the cutaneous metastases.

We reviewed the details of 47 reported cases of cutaneous metastases of cervical carcinoma. In the majority of these cases, patients presented within 10 years of initial diagnosis and died within a mean of 8.5 months from cutaneous metastasis.