Zosteriform skin metastases: Clue to an undiagnosed breast cancer

• Main Authors: Neha C Virmani, Yugal K Sharma, Narayan K Panicker, Kedar N Dash, Milind A Patvekar, Kirti S Deo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2011-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Dermatology
• Subjects: Undiagnosed breast cancer; zosteriform metastases; cutaneous metastases
• Online Access: http://www.e-ijd.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5154;year=2011;volume=56;issue=6;spage=726;epage=727;aulast=Virmani

Cancer metastases represent the most devastating aspect of malignancy, since the mortality of cancer patients is mainly related to the metastatic behavior of the primary neoplasm. Skin metastases are usually late events in the course of tumor progression. Excluding melanoma, the most common tumor to metastasize to the skin is breast cancer. Patients who develop cutaneous metastases rarely present with a zosteriform distribution. Herein, we present a 60-year-old female, an undiagnosed case of breast cancer, with zosteriform metastases along her right T2-T3 dermatome.