This is the Leser-Trélat sign.
It is defined as the sudden eruption of multiple seborrheic keratoses caused by a malignancy/cancer (part of a paraneoplastic syndrome). This means once you see this sign, the patient most likely has an underlying malignancy.
Malignancies that can cause the Leser-Trélat sign include gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas (gastric, colon, rectal), with gastric adenocarcinoma being the overall most common malignancy, followed by breast cancer, and lymphoproliferative disorders/lymphoma. Additional malignancies reported to display the sign of Leser-Trelat include melanoma, prostate, lung, kidney, laryngeal, ovarian, mycosis fungoides, hepatocellular carcinoma, bladder cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.
When a patient presents with this sign, the workup should include routine blood and chemistry studies, stool for occult blood, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test, urinalysis with cytologic examination, Papanicolaou test and cervical cytologic examination in women, prostate-specific antigen testing in men.
The condition is best treated by addressing the underlying malignant process. The skin lesions can be removed with cryosurgery, with/without curettage.
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