We observed dermal melanocytes running in parallel with collagen fibers in the peritumoral stroma of a basal cell epithelioma. The dermal melanocyte contained many free mature melanosomes. They frequently showed an intimate contact with elastic fibers and were surrounded by an extracellular sheath with elastic fibers. These cells may have occurred due to the activation of dormant dermal melanocytes following the appearance of basal cell epithelioma, which may have been derived from a nevoid tumor originating from dormant, latent embryonic foci.
Two cases of basal cell epithelioma with giant tumor cells are reported. Differentiation into squamoid cells and phagocytosis of melanosomes and remnants of the degenerated tumor cells may be factors in initiating giant cell formation. The localization of these giant tumor cells into specific nests suggests the presence of unknown factors contributing to their formation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.