Cutaneous metastases in patients with rectal cancer: a report of six cases.

Cutaneous metastases from rectal cancer are rare manifestations of disseminated disease and uniformly represent dismal survival. A retrospective review of six patients with rectal cancer metastatic to the dermis was performed. The diagnosis of rectal cancer was made concurrently with the diagnosis of the dermal metastases in all six patients. A 100 per cent histopathologic concordance existed between the tissue of the dermal metastases and primary rectal tumor. The progression of systemic metastatic disease was the cause of death in 83.3 per cent of patients (5/6). No patient survived more than 7 months from the time of diagnosis. Recognition of suspicious skin lesions as possible harbingers of undiagnosed visceral malignancy is important in managing patients both with and without a history of previous cancer.