This patient is remarkable for a number of reasons. The level of denial he exhibited was astonishing. He denied difficulty eating or swallowing despite the presence of a 5 cm esophageal mass. Also, the speed at which this cutaneous metastasis grew and its vastly larger size compared with the primary tumor are of interest. Cutaneous metastasis, however, from primary esopohageal tumors is a relatively rare.
Esophageal tumors have no specific body site they prefer to metastasize to.
The presence of cutneous mestastasis, particularly one as large as this patients, portends a poor prognosis. Incidence and distribution of distant metastases from newly diagnosed esophageal carcinoma. Patterns of cutaneous metastasis. Metastatic tumors of the skin. My thanks to Dr. Curtis Raskin for his assistance in preparing this case.