Malignant acanthosis nigricans and breast carcinoma. Presentation of a clinical case

Abstract

The skin manifestations of malignant tumors include a group of dermatoses that can be the sign of the occult neoplasms presence and allow their timely diagnosis. The objective of this report is to present the acanthosis nigricans’ clinical characteristics associated with breast carcinoma. The clinical case of a 50-years-old black-skinned patient is described, assisted in the Dermatology consultation of the Raúl Sánchez University Polyclinic, for having a single erythematous plaque located in the left breast, accompanied by pain, increased local temperature and hyperchromic macules in the armpits; as well as multiple axillary lymphadenopathy. Complementary examinations showed the presence of malignant acanthosis nigricans associated with an inflammatory carcinoma of the left breast. She underwent surgery, with the consequent disappearance of the skin lesions, but with a reserved prognosis. Most paraneoplastic syndromes are nonspecific; there is an urgent need to suspect a correlation between skin changes and the possibility of an internal neoplasia, so it is of utmost importance to refer these patients for identification and early diagnosis of the underlying disease. This would improve the prognosis and greatly mitigate the consequences.

Keywords

• neoplasias de la mama
• metástasis neoplásica
• síndromes paraneoplásicos
• acantosis nigricans
• mastectomía
• biopsia con aguja fina
• mamografía