Leukemia cutis is the infiltration of neoplastic leukocytes or their precursors into the skin resulting in clinically identifiable cutaneous lesions.
[3] Aleukemic leukemia cutis occurs when cancerous white blood cells penetrate the skin before they are detected in the bone marrow or peripheral circulation.
[4] The clinical appearance of leukemia cutis varies, with the most common lesions being erythematous to violaceous papules or nodules (60%), followed by infiltrating plaques, generalized cutaneous eruption, and erythroderma.
Leukemia cutis has also been reported to localize to injuries, intravenous catheters, herpes lesions, and recent surgical procedures.
[11] Adhesion molecules, specifically chemokine integrin, may have a role in the migration of leukemic cells into the skin through processes known as skin-selective homing.
[10] Leukemia cutis is diagnosed by looking at the morphologic pattern of skin infiltration, cytologic characteristics, and most importantly the tumor cells' immunophenotype.