Hepatocellular Carcinoma Invasive to Chest Wall

An 88-year-old white man developed hepatocellular carcinoma forming a large subcutaneous mass by direct invasion of the posterior chest wall. Forty-seven cases of cutaneous metastases from primary liver cancer have been reported. These cutaneous metastases showed protean morphologic features with the face and scalp being the most common sites of involvement. The metastatic lesions may be the presenting sign of the cancer. Average survival, after development of a skin metastasis, was 5 months. Skin metastases from primary liver cancer are being reported more frequently. This is due, in part, to more prolonged survival of liver cancer patients, which allows development of skin metastases, and also due to increased awareness by the clinician.