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Clear cells in acral melanoma.
1Department of Dermatology, University of Innsbruck, Austria. matthias.schmuth@uibk.ac.at
European Journal of Dermatology : EJD
|February 15, 2001
Summary
Clear cell changes in acral melanoma are common, appearing in 43% of cases. Recognizing these features is crucial for accurate diagnosis and distinguishing acral melanoma from other clear cell cancers.
Area of Science:
- Dermatopathology
- Oncology
Background:
- Acral melanoma can exhibit atypical clinical and histological features, potentially delaying diagnosis.
- Clear cell changes represent a less commonly recognized histological variant of acral melanoma.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency of clear cell changes in acral melanoma.
- To highlight the importance of recognizing clear cell features for differential diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Review of clinical information, hematoxylin & eosin stained paraffin sections.
- Analysis of immunohistochemical staining profiles in 49 acral melanoma cases.
Main Results:
- Clear cell changes were present in focal areas in 43% (21/49) of specimens.
- Clear cells constituted the major tumor component in 14% (7/49) of cases.
- Immunohistochemistry showed weak S100/HMB45 and strong Melan A/NK1C3 staining.
Conclusions:
- Clear cell changes are a notable feature in a significant proportion of acral melanomas.
- Accurate identification of clear cell acral melanoma is essential to exclude other clear cell malignancies, such as renal cell carcinoma metastasis, clear cell sarcoma, and hidradenocarcinoma.