Eccrine carcinoma is a rare

skin condition A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this sy ...

characterized by a plaque or nodule on the

scalp The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the human face at the front, and by the neck at the sides and back. Structure The scalp is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic: * S: The ski ...

, trunk, or extremities. It originates from the

eccrine sweat gland Eccrine sweat glands (; from Greek ''ekkrinein'' 'secrete'; sometimes called merocrine glands) are the major sweat glands of the human body, found in virtually all skin, with the highest density in palm and soles, then on the head, but much less ...

s of the skin, accounting for less than 0.01% of diagnosed cutaneous malignancies. Eccrine carcinoma tumors are locally aggressive, with a high rate of recurrence. Lack of reliable immunohistochemical markers and similarity to other common tumors has made identification of eccrine carcinoma difficult. Most eccrine carcinomas which have not

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

can be cured by

wide local excision A wide local excision (WLE) is a surgical procedure to remove a small area of diseased or problematic tissue with a margin of normal tissue. This procedure is commonly performed on the breast and to skin lesions, but can be used on any area of the ...

. However, metastatic disease carries a poor prognosis.

Symptoms

Eccrine carcinoma results in brown, bluish, erythematous skin lesions across the body. Common regions where lesions are found are in the lower extremities (35%), head and neck (24%), and upper extremities (14%).

Complications

Metastases and/or antagonistic side effects can occur after surgical excision of tumors.

Types

Eccrine carcinomas include porocarcinoma, hidradenocarcinoma, malignant spiradenoma carcinoma, malignant cylindroma, syringoid eccrine carcinoma, microcystic adnexal carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and ductal papillary adenocarcinoma. Other tumors not classified include eccrine ductal carcinoma, basaloid eccrine carcinoma, clear cell eccrine carcinoma and non-specified sweat gland carcinomas.

Causes

There is no research yet as to what causes Eccrine carcinoma.

Diagnosis

A skin biopsy is the most common test used to diagnose eccrine carcinoma. The biopsy will detect growth of new or abnormal tissue. Another test that can be performed is using immunohistochemistry, but it is inconsistent. Markers used to detect eccrine carcinoma consist of carcinoembryonic antigen, progesterone receptors, estrogen receptors, epithelial membrane antigen, pancytokeratins, and cytokeratin 7.

Treatment

Wide surgical excision is the mainstay of treatment. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been used in metastatic disease.

Prognosis

In the absence of metastasis, local excision is curative in 70–80% of cases. Metastatic eccrine carcinoma has a relative mortality rate of 65% (with local lymph node involvement alone) to 80% (with distant metastases), and the 10-year overall survival rate is 9%.

Frequency

Eccrine carcinoma accounts for 0.005-0.01% of diagnosed cutaneous malignancies.

References

External links

{{Tumors of skin appendages Epidermal nevi, neoplasms, and cysts