Subungual Metastasis from Ovarian Cancer: Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

Francesco Savoia; Matelda Medri; Gian Domenico Raulli; Cecilia Menna; Davide Melandri; Ignazio Stanganelli

doi:10.1159/000526101

Subungual Metastasis from Ovarian Cancer: Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

Skin Appendage Disord. 2023 Jan;9(1):54-57. doi: 10.1159/000526101. Epub 2022 Aug 29.

Authors

Francesco Savoia¹, Matelda Medri¹, Gian Domenico Raulli², Cecilia Menna³, Davide Melandri⁴, Ignazio Stanganelli^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori (IRST) "Dino Amadori," Skin Cancer Unit, Meldola, Italy.
² Pathologic Anatomy, Ausl della Romagna, Santa Maria delle Croci Hospital, Ravenna, Italy.
³ IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori "Dino Amadori" (IRST) Oncology, Meldola, Italy.
⁴ Department of Emergency, AUSL della Romagna, Burn Center and Dermatology, Cesena, Italy.
⁵ Dermatology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.

Abstract

Introduction: Visceral solid cancers can metastasize in almost any organ, including the skin and its appendages.

Case presentation: We report here the case of a 19-year-old Caucasian girl carrying a diagnosis of malignant germ cell tumor of the ovary, with pulmonary and brain metastases, that developed a painful red-violaceous subungual papule of the 4th finger of the left hand, associated with an over-curvature of the nail plate. Dermoscopy was characterized initially by different shades of pink and red, while after few weeks, it showed black pigmentation due to subcorneal hematomas, hemorrhagic crusts, and a rainbow pattern. Histology confirmed a diagnosis of a metastasis from a poorly differentiated carcinoma of ovarian origin.

Discussion and conclusion: A brief review on the diagnosis and treatment of subungual metastases is reported.

Keywords: Acrometastases; Metastasis; Subungual metastasis.

Publication types

Case Reports

Grants and funding

No funding was received by any of the authors. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.