Scalp metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma of lung

We report a case of a 53-year-old man with a solitary nodular growth on the scalp in the right temporal region, noted during his hospital admission for bilateral knee replacement. A chest X-ray revealed a large circumscribed opacity in the left lung field. Bronchoscopy revealed a tumour at the carina. Histology of biopsies from the bronchoscopy and the scalp lesion showed an identical moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The patient survived 2.5 months after the onset of symptoms. While skin metastasis is recognised but rare in primary lung cancer, metastasis to the scalp is particularly unusual.