Primary dermal melanoma: A case report and molecular characterization

J Dermatol. 2009 Jun;36(6):346-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2009.00650.x.

Abstract

Swetter et al. proposed primary dermal melanoma (PDM) as a distinct entity based on an excellent prognosis. The histopathological features of PDM are extremely similar to those of metastatic melanoma or clear cell sarcoma (CCS). We describe a 38-year-old woman with a subcutaneous tumor in her left thigh. Physical and imaging examinations showed no evidence of metastatic melanoma. The lesion showed obvious strong expression of KIT by immunohistochemistry, but no EWS-ATF1 fusion transcript specific for CCS was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. In further analyses of KIT expression in other tumors, three of four primary melanomas (75%) and six of 12 metastatic melanomas (50%) were moderately or strongly positive, however, both the primary and metastatic lesions of CCS tested negative. We believe this to be a case of PDM, and emphasize the distinctiveness of PDM.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • DNA Mutational Analysis
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Genes, ras
  • Humans
  • Melanoma / genetics*
  • Melanoma / metabolism
  • Melanoma / pathology*
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / metabolism
  • Skin Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Skin Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Transcription Factors / genetics

Substances

  • EWS-ATF1 fusion protein, human
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
  • Transcription Factors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
  • BRAF protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf