Esophageal carcinoma presenting with cutaneous nodules

Esophageal cancer accounts for 7% of all gastrointestinal cancers but presentation with metastases in the form of cutaneous nodules is a rare occurrence. Majority of esophageal cancers are mainly those of squamous cell type and so are the reported cases of cutaneous metastasis as our own case. Here we report a 55-year old man with cutaneous metastasis from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma presenting as nodules on the face back and digital pulp with associated skeletal metastasis and pathological fractures. Our case represents the third in the reported series of digital pulp metastasis from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The nodule may appear before or after the onset of esophageal symptoms such as dysphagia and weight loss, and is a pointer of tumor aggressiveness.