Sister Joseph's nodule: a case report and review of the Japanese literature.

We report a case of metastatic carcinoma on the umbilicus, which is known as Sister Joseph's nodule. A 65-year-old man with the chief complaint of a painful nodule on the umbilicus was referred to our hospital. Histopathological examination revealed moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma in the dermis. Endoscopic examination found gastric cancer of Borrmann type IV. The umbilical lesion represented a metastasis from the gastric cancer. We reviewed 80 cases of metastatic carcinomas to the umbilicus that have been reported in the Japanese literature.