Cutaneous paraneoplastic syndrome (acrokeratosis paraneoplastica) preceding squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx.

Paraneoplastic syndromes that occur in the minority of cancer patients are the produced signs and symptoms at distant sites from the tumour or its metastases. These syndromes may occur due to the production of substances by tumoural lesions that directly or indirectly cause distant symptoms or depletion of normal substances or host response to the tumours. A paraneoplastic syndrome may be the first sign of a malignancy so its recognition may be critical for early cancer detection. Most of the paraneoplastic syndromes associated with head and neck tumours are endocrinologic or neurologic; dermatologic syndromes are less common. Head and neck cancers also have occasionally been reported in association with paraneoplastic syndromes and to date there are only a few cases in the literature about the presence of a cutaneous paraneoplastic syndrome as the first manifestation of a laryngeal cancer, especially glottic larynx cancer. A wide variety of cutaneous syndromes are associated with malignancies and these syndromes may precede, follow, or be concurrent with the underlying malignancy. In this report we present a case with cutaneous syndrome of acrokeratosis paraneoplastica preceding squamous cell carcinoma of glottic larynx, and review the other cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes reported in the literature.