Five cases of dermatofibrosarcoma are reported. All showed features typical of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans except that in four cases, and a portion of the fifth case, no protusion of the tumor was noted clinically despite the rather advanced stage of growth of the tumor. These lesions resembled morphea or a morpheaform basal cell carcinoma clinically but could be recognized as "dermatofibrosarcoma non-protuberans" by physicians who had observed a previous case.
We report a 59-year-old, dark-complexioned black man with a giant basal cell carcinoma infiltrating virtually the entire scalp. Widespread metastatic bone marrow involvement produced a myelophthisic anemia. Basal cell carcinoma is rare in blacks, is rarely this large, and very rarely produces myelophthisic anemia from bone marrow metastases.
Four cases of colonization of nonmelanocytic lesions by dendritic melanocytic cells are reported, one in a verruca vulgaris of the lip, one in a squamous cell carcinoma in situ of mucous membrane overlying a tonsil, one in a lesion of lichen simplex chronicus with a nevocellular nevus of the external ear, and one in a dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (Bednar tumor). This is an important biological process of melanocytes that must not be confused with the acral-lentiginous (palmar-plantar-subungual-mucosal (P-S-M) melanoma. It is probably much more common than the paucity of published reports would indicate.
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