Malignant metastatic eccrine poroma. Proposal for a new therapeutic protocol.

BACKGROUND: Malignant metastatic eccrine poroma is a very rare cutaneous neoplasm, and consequently the references in the literature regarding the treatment of this tumor, known also as porocarcinoma, are very poor.

OBJECTIVE: To call attention to a new therapeutic protocol in the treatment of metastatic porocarcinoma, as well as to underline an antineoplastic efficacy of vitamin A analogues.

METHODS: The results are presented on the basis of the clinical case of a malignant eccrine poroma with metastatic regional lymph nodes.

RESULTS: With our new chemotherapeutic protocol, arrest of the metastatic progression was achieved after 3 months and the remission was maintained until the 10th month of therapy.

CONCLUSIONS: A new chemotherapy protocol consisting of isotretinoin and interferon alpha has confirmed the advantages of polychemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic malignant eccrine poroma. On the basis of the considerably long, although incomplete, remission with good drug tolerance in spite of the high doses used as well as the undoubtedly major antineoplastic strength of the latest generation of synthetic retinoids, we feel that these findings could be a good starting point for further experimental verifications of the therapy of this aggressive cutaneous neoplasm.