Carcinoma erysipeloides of laryngeal origin

The term "carcinoma erysipeloides" (CE) designates an uncommon form of cutaneous metastasis. CE is most often associated with carcinoma of the breast. However, there have been reports of CE from carcinoma of the uterus, prostate, lung, ovary, stomach, tonsils, thyroid, pancreas, rectum, parotid glands and melanoma. To our knowledge, CE of laryngeal origin has not been previously reported. We describe a patient diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus coinfection who developed a supraglottic laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and erythematous cutaneous lesions. A skin biopsy demonstrated invasion of dilated dermal lymphatics by clusters of atypical squamous cells with polymorphic nuclei and extensive infiltration of the dermis by tumor cells. The histology of the metastatic cells was similar to that of the laryngeal carcinoma.