Pyoderma gangrenosum associated with solid organ malignancies

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) can be associated with systemic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory arthritis, and hematologic malignancy. Previous literature exploring the rare association between PG and solid organ malignancy is predominantly limited to single case reports.

We retrospectively reviewed the cases of five patients with PG and solid organ malignancies at our institution between 1996 and 2013.

For the five patients identified, PG and solid organ malignancy occurred within three months of each other. Mean age at onset of PG was 55.6 years, and four patients were women. Three patients had breast carcinoma (one was recurrent), and two had gastrointestinal carcinoma. PG occurred before (n = 2), after (n = 2), or synchronously with (n = 1) the malignancy. In one patient with a history of PG and quiescent inflammatory bowel disease, recurrent PG developed synchronously with a new diagnosis of metastatic rectosigmoid carcinoma. Three patients had partial or complete response of PG with treatment of PG alone.

To our knowledge, our study is the first to report that the onset of PG can herald a recurrence of a solid organ malignancy and that recurrent PG can be associated with solid organ malignancy. A possible association of solid organ malignancy and PG should be considered in patients with PG of unknown etiology or with a history of malignancy.