Abstract
In this chapter, the cutaneous metastases of non-primary skin neoplasms, namely those originating from tumors of the internal organs, are discussed. Skin metastases of internal malignancies are, with some exceptions, very rare and only sporadic cases of metastases from gastric, intestinal, prostatic and bronchial carcinomas, from testicular seminoma and from some sarcomas such as haemangiosarcomas and osteosarcomas, have been reported in the veterinary literature. The spread of neoplastic cells occurs mainly via the bloodstream, and therefore, metastases can develop on any part of the skin. The most frequently observed cutaneous metastases are those linked to the bronchogenic carcinoma in cats, which characterise the so-called lung–digit syndrome. In this neoplastic disease, metastases are multicentric and mostly localised to the digits and muscles. Although mammary tissue is cutaneous adnexa, because of the importance and the enormity of the topic, mammary cancers are generally dealt with in textbooks exclusively dedicated to this subject. In dogs, as in human beings, a clinical variant of mammary neoplasia called inflammatory mammary carcinoma is well documented. This neoplasia, shows clinical signs very similar to other primary skin cancers or to nodular non-neoplastic skin diseases, and it is characterised by the lymphatic spread of neoplastic cells. For this reason, this variant of mammary carcinoma is discussed in this chapter. The metastasis of round cell tumors, such as mast cell tumours, lymphomas, histiocytic diseases and multiple myeloma, are not included in this chapter. In these haematopoietic tumours, the simultaneous presence of lesions in the internal organs and on the skin is considered a common occurrence. Furthermore, it is not always possible to define when the skin neoplasia is primary or metastatic. The neoplasms included in this group of tumors have been extensively covered in Chap. 4.
In collaboration with Walter Bertazzolo (dipl. ECVCP)
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Albanese, F. (2017). Cutaneous Metastasis from Non-primary Skin Tumors. In: Canine and Feline Skin Cytology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41241-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41241-2_5
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