Adenocarcinoma of the Eccrine Sweat Gland

A 49-year-old man had had a slow-growing tumor on his left forearm since childhood. The tumor suddenly began to grow at a rapid rate and it was excised. The histologic features were those of an adenocarcinoma of the sweat gland. Enzyme and other histochemical techniques were used to establish the origin of the tumor from eccrine glands. The use of enzyme histochemistry is an excellent method as an aid in distinction between eccrine and apocrine carcinomas. These sweat gland carcinomas have a relatively high potential for metastasis.