Clinical, Pathological, and Molecular Features of Breast Carcinoma Cutaneous Metastasis

Abstract

Breast cancer; Metastasis; Skin

Cáncer de mama; Metástasis; Piel

Càncer de mama; Metàstasi; Pell

Cutaneous metastases (CMs) account for 2% of all skin malignancies, and nearly 70% of CMs in women originate from breast cancer (BC). CMs are usually associated with poor prognosis, are difficult to treat, and can pose diagnostic problems, such as in histopathological diagnosis when occurring long after development of the primary tumor. In addition, the molecular differences between the primary tumors and their CMs, and between CMs and metastases in other organs, are not well defined. Here, we review the main clinical, pathological, and molecular characteristics of breast cancer CMs. Identifying molecular markers in primary BC that predict CM and can be used to determine the molecular differences between primary tumors and their metastases is of great interest for the design of new therapeutic approaches.

This review was funded by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (PI19/01331) and CIBERONC (CB16/12/00316 and CB16/12/00449), co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund, ‘A way to achieve Europe’ (FEDER), and by the Spanish Association Against Cancer Scientific Foundation (Grupos Coordinados Traslacionales aecc 2018).