KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and management outcomes of cervical squamous cell carcinoma metastasizing to the skin.
- Advancements in treatment offer new hope for cervical cancer patients with skin metastases, despite challenges posed by multiple lesions or organ involvement.
Cancers that metastasize to the skin are rare, especially cervical squamous cell carcinoma to the skin. While cervical cancer commonly spreads to regional lymph nodes, lungs, liver, and bones, metastasis to the skin is an exceedingly rare phenomenon. Skin metastasis indicates an advanced stage of malignancy and is often associated with a poor prognosis.
Yu Shen and the team reported a clinical analysis of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma metastasizing to the skin, aiming to provide clinicians with insights into this uncommon manifestation.
They performed an inclusive analysis of patients with skin metastasis from cervical squamous cell carcinoma, examining clinical manifestations, histopathology, diagnosis, treatment strategies, and prognosis.
They found that the average age of onset for the 6 patients with skin metastasis from cervical squamous cell carcinoma was 55.17±17.08 years, with 4 cases presenting as solitary lesions and 2 cases as multiple lesions.
Treatment strategies included local excision for isolated lesions, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or targeted therapy based on the extent of skin involvement, and immunotherapy was proved to have promising results. Of the 6 patients, 3 have passed away with a diagnosis-to-death time of approximately 5-6 months, while 3 patients are alive, with survival times ranging from 30 to 72 months.
The study concluded that skin metastasis from cervical squamous cell carcinoma, while rare, often accompanies recurrent metastases to other visceral sites, necessitating early and accurate diagnosis. For isolated metastatic lesions, early detection followed by wide excision surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy can yield favorable outcomes.
However, in cases of multiple skin metastases or concurrent metastases to multiple organs, treatment is challenging with a poor prognosis. Advances in medicine, including combination chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy, offer new hope by effectively prolonging survival for patients with this condition.
This study was funded by the Special Research Fund for Clinical Medicine of Nantong University, the Health Committee Science Project of Nantong, and the Foundation of Nantong Science and Technology Bureau.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38984488/
Shen Y, Jin X, Zhu Y, et al. (2024). “Clinical analysis of patients with skin metastasis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma.” Chin Clin Oncol. 2024 Jun;13(3):35. doi: 10.21037/cco-24-60. PMID: 38984488.
