Dermoscopic findings in cutaneous metastases

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Oncology
• Pathology

Background:

• Cutaneous metastases are rare but prognostically significant.
• Dermoscopy is valuable for skin lesion assessment, but data on cutaneous metastases are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe dermoscopic findings in cutaneous metastases.
• To correlate dermoscopic features with clinical and histological data.
• To assess the utility of dermoscopy in diagnosing skin metastases.

Main Methods:

• Review of high-quality dermoscopic images from 20 outpatients with biopsy-proven cutaneous metastases.
• Correlation of dermoscopic findings with clinical and histological data.
• Analysis of lesion characteristics including color, vascular patterns, and pigmentation.

Main Results:

• Most nonpigmented lesions (17/20) showed vascular patterns, predominantly serpentine vessels.
• Pink homogeneous structureless areas were observed in 12% of nonpigmented lesions.
• Pigmented lesions (3/20), all metastatic breast carcinoma, displayed various melanocytic patterns.

Conclusions:

• Visible vascular structures on dermoscopy suggest cutaneous metastasis in cancer patients.
• Pigmentation in such lesions, without melanoma history, points to primary breast carcinoma.
• Dermoscopy aids in evaluating suspected skin metastases and lesions of unknown origin in cancer patients.