Metastases to the skin from carcinoma of the viscera are rare. Cutaneous metastases in cancer are seen most frequently in carcinoma of the breast, occurring in almost 10 per cent of the cases, and in these it is largely a matter of extension rather than metastatic involvement. There are isolated reports of cutaneous metastases in cancer of the stomach. In these instances the malignancy is usually well advanced. The cutaneous metastases, when they occur, appear at and about the umbilicus, for the lymphatic glands of the umbilicus permit their spread to the skin.
In rare cases metastases to the skin may be generalized. In one case reported metastasis was secondary to carcinoma of the tonsil.1 Cutaneous metastases may spread by the lymphatic glands or by the hematogenous route, and in extensive carcinoma of the skin their location does not correspond exclusively to either lymphatic or blood stream.