Skin metastases from small-cell carcinoma of the lung

This paper reports the first case of skin metastases from small-cell carcinoma of the lung with electron microscopic confirmation. The 2 to 3-cm cutaneous lesions present on the chest and limbs were hard, nontender, smooth-surfaced, freely moveable nodules with normal appearing overlying skin. Characteristic dense-core granules 1562 +/- 123 A (SEM) in diameter were detected by electron microscopy. The detection by electron microscopy of dense-core granules may assist in confirming the diagnosis of small-cell carcinoma in cutaneous lesions with equivocal histologic findings.