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Updated: Aug 2, 2025

Spontaneous Murine Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Published on: February 3, 2023
Clear cell tumor with melanocytic differentiation and MITF::CREM translocation
Sanda Alexandrescu1, Alma Imamovic-Tuco2, Katherine Janeway3
1Department of Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
In addition to melanoma, a large and diverse family of tumors shows melanocytic differentiation. The best characterized member of this family is clear cell sarcoma, which is characterized by EWSR1::ATF1 and EWSR1::CREB1 fusions. These fusions drive the transcription of MITF, the master regulator of melanocytic differentiation. Clear cell tumor with melanocytic differentiation and MITF::CREM translocation is a recently described tumor with some similarities to clear cell sarcoma. However, only a single case has been reported. Here, we describe a second molecularly proven case that arose on the scalp of a newborn baby. In contrast to the prior reported case, the current case showed predominantly high-grade cytomorphologic features with only focal clear cell areas. Similar to the prior case, the tumor showed immunohistochemical evidence of neural crest origin/differentiation with prominent melanocytic differentiation. The fusion breakpoints were also similar and preserved the transcriptional activation domain of CREM, suggesting that CREM hyperactivity is a major feature of this tumor type. The current tumor showed a short-interval recurrence. These results expand the clinical and pathologic spectrum of this potentially new entity.

