[Aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma - case report].

Digital papillary adenocarcinoma is a rare tumour originating from sweat glands, often occurring in digits of the hand or foot. We present the case of a 52-year-old mechanic with this tumour at the distal phalanx of the middle finger. It was primarily excised. After histological verification of the diagnosis, amputation and axillary lymphadenectomy was performed. So far, no clinical or histological parameters were found to be predictive for recurrence or metastasis. This indicates that the originally proposed criteria for distinguishing between benign (adenoma) and malignant (adenocarcinoma) do not necessarily predict biologic behaviour. As according to the available literature metastases occurred in 14 % of the described patients within ten years, we propose an aggressive surgical approach consisting of amputation and regional lymph node dissection.