[Cetuximab-associated skin ulceration in patient with metastatic colorectal cancer: a case report].

An 82-year-old female was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Hartmann's procedure was performed and a curative resection was successfully achieved. Postoperative staging according to the classification of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum(The 7th Edition)was stage III. She received adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery with tegafur(UFT 300 mg/body/day)orally for 6 months. One year after the surgery, paraaortic lymph node metastasis and a local recurrence were diagnosed. She was treated with modified FOLFOX6 chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab. After 13 courses of treatment with FOLFOX6 and bevacizumab, multiple lung metastases were found. Therefore, we changed the chemotherapy regimens to FOLFIRI plus cetuximab. After 18 weeks of this new treatment she had two skin ulcerations around her stoma, a known side effect associated with cetuximab. We stopped cetuximab and continued chemotherapy with FOLFIRI alone. Seven weeks after cetuximab withdrawal, her skin ulcer healed with the support of a dermatologist and a wound ostomy continence nurse. We reintroduced cetuximab in a chemotherapy regimen with a reduced dose. After two infusions of cetuximab, skin ulceration recurred. We stopped cetuximab again and continued chemotherapy with FOLFIRI. Nine weeks later we resumed cetuximab, but this time the skin ulcer did not occur, and we were able to continue the chemotherapy regimen with FOLFIRI and cetuximab.

A case of systemic aplasia cutis congenita: a newly recognized syndrome?

Aplasia cutis congenita, congenital absence of a localized area of skin, usually on the vertex of the scalp, occurs as an isolated defect, or with one or more other congenital anomalies as part of a syndrome, sequence or association. To date, more than 500 cases have been reported. A more severe and extensive form, almost complete absence of skin and subcutaneous tissue, was reported by Park et al. in 1998 [J Med Genet 35:609-611]. Until now, no other such lethal case has been reported. Here, we report the second case of systemic aplasia cutis congenita. The female was born without any skin at all, and with hypoplastic lungs, syndactyly, skull defect, esophageal atresia, intestinal malrotation, and calcifications of the hepatic capsule, as well as with other anomalies. She died about 12 hours after birth probably due to dehydration. On microscopic examination, the external surface of the body showed complete absence of the epidermis. Muscle fibers were thin. There was no evidence of skin appendages. The present case gives strong support to the suggestion that systemic aplasia cutis congenita is a newly recognized syndrome. More cases will have to be reported and studied in order to understand the etiology and establish diagnostic criteria. Thus, it is our conclusion that systemic aplasia cutis congenita might be a newly recognized syndrome.