Cutaneous Metastasis in a Case of Adenocarcinoma of the Lung: A Cytological Diagnosis

Subcutaneous metastatic nodules are an uncommon first sign of underlying cancer.cutaneous metastasis occurs in 0.8% to 4% of all cancer patients and less than 5% inthose with lung cancer. these metastases are usually single or multiple painlessnodules that may be mobile or fixed. cutaneous metastases from the lung are not verycommon and indicate a worse prognosis. the limited literature on skin metastases froma primary lung suggests that if other extracutaneous metastases exist, median survivaldoes not exceed three months; however, if the skin is the only site of metastaticdisease, survival can reach ten months. fine needle aspiration cytology is an excellentnoninvasive method for early diagnosis of subcutaneous nodules, which in the presenceof characteristic cytomorphology obviates the need for more invasive methods andsurgery. once diagnosed, the aim is to start treatment as soon as possible beforewidespread visceral metastases occur. although the response to chemotherapy is poor,possibly due to poor blood supply to the skin, monitoring response to chemotherapyis easier when such lesions are present.we hereby describe the case of a 38-year-old male who presented with a mass inthe right lung along with a nodule on his scalp. fine needle aspiration cytology fromboth sites revealed cytological features of adenocarcinoma.