Chemotherapy of metastatic sweat gland carcinoma. A retrospective review.

Sweat gland carcinoma (SGC) is a rare malignancy of the skin. though many patients with SGC die of disseminated metastases, little is known regarding the value of systemic chemotherapy for this disease. We reviewed the records of 20 patients with metastatic SGC who were treated with chemotherapy at Memorial Hospital between 1968 and 1983. A large variety of drugs were given. Although only a few patients were treated with any given regimen, metastatic SGC appears to be poorly responsive to a wide variety of chemotherapeutic regimens. Five major responses were observed in 30 chemotherapy trials performed in 17 patients with measurable/evaluable disease. No patient responded to single agent therapy alone. In this small group of patients, SGC appears to be a relatively chemotherapy resistant tumor. Larger, group-wide or inter-group trials are needed to prospectively evaluate the use of chemotherapy in this disease. Doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, the two drugs used most commonly in those combinations where responses were seen, appear to be reasonable choices for initial treatment of patients with metastatic disease. Our review does not provide data to support the empiric use of chemotherapy in an adjuvant setting.