Skin metastases in non-small cell lung cancer

Skin metastasis associated with lung cancer is an uncommon manifestation and usually portends an aggressive clinical course. It can be either synchronous with the underlying malignancy or be the sign of recurrence. Solitary metastases can be treated with surgical resection or radiation therapy, but multiple lesions are usually treated with palliative chemotherapy. With standard platinum-based doublet regimens, treatment results are usually poor. With the advent of newer agents like pemetrexed, bevacizumab and erlotinib, perhaps results may improve with ongoing clinical trials.