Skin Manifestations of Systemic Malignancy and Disease

Seemal Desai, MD

What do we need to consider when our patient’s diagnosis is: pyoderma gangrenosum, erythema nodosum, NLD, Sweet’s and Bazex syndrome and many more?? Dr Desai provides us with his clinical pearls…

1. Acanthosis Nigricans in combination tripe palms is highly linked to an underlying gastric carcinoma, typically an adenocarcinoma
2. Sweet’s syndrome is increasingly being seen as a result of myeloid malignancies, in particular Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Check a blood count, and do a detailed history and physical
3. On biopsy, Bazex’s Syndrome (Acrokeratosis Paraneoplastica) cannot be distinguished from Psoriasis. You need a detailed history and malignancy work-up for diagnosis
4. Vascular nodules on the head and neck that appear suddenly without other systemic associations should be biopsied to rule out cutaneous metastases, in particular renal cell carcinoma
5. Inflammatory bowel disease is commonly linked to multiple cutaneous findings, including erythema nodosum, pustular skin eruptions, and pyoderma gangrenosum.