Utility of fine-needle aspiration cytology in diagnosis of cutaneous and subcutaneous metastasis

Abstract

Introduction: Cutaneous metastasis (CM) is an uncommon clinical presentation and poses trouble in diagnosis. However, it is remarkable and can occur due to a known or an unknown primary tumor. Despite the fact that clinical assessment helps in the diagnosis, Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a modest, basic, and quick principle line of investigation for the finding of CM. Materials and Methods: It was a retrospective study conducted in the department of pathology at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The study was conducted from January 2010 to May 2020. All cases of CM that has been diagnosed by FNAC were included. Results: During the study period, a total of 37 cases of CM were observed, constituting 0.15% of all FNACs. The age of the patients ranged from 35 to 74 years, and the male: female ratio was 1.05:1. Primary tumor was known in all 37 cases. Among males, lung carcinoma was the more common whereas breast was the most common organ of primary among females. The most common lesion was a single nodule (27 cases), with predominant site being chest wall (32.5%), and the most common tumor at microscopy was metastatic adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: FNAC is a fast and safe procedure that can be utilized as a first line of investigation in diagnosing metastatic skin lesions. Basic assessment of cytomorphology alongside significant clinical subtleties could help in recognizing the site of an unknown primary.