Tumours of cutaneous sweat glands are uncommon, with a wide histological spectrum, complex classification and many different terms often used to describe the same tumour. Furthermore, many eccrine/apocrine lesions coexist within hamartomas or within lesions with composite/mixed differentiation. In addition to the eccrine and apocrine glands, two other skin sweat glands have recently been described: the apoeccrine and the mammary-like glands of the anogenital area. In this review (the second of two articles on skin adnexal neoplasms), common as well as important benign and malignant lesions of cutaneous sweat glands are described, and a summary for differentiating primary adnexal neoplasms from metastatic carcinoma is outlined, striving to maintain a common and acceptable terminology in this complex subject. Composite/mixed adnexal tumours are also discussed briefly.

Skin adnexal neoplasms comprise a wide spectrum of benign and malignant tumours that exhibit morphological differentiation towards one or more types of adnexal structures found in normal skin. Most adnexal neoplasms are relatively uncommonly encountered in routine practice, and pathologists can recognise a limited number of frequently encountered tumours. In this review, the first of two, the normal histology of the skin adnexal structures is reviewed, and the histological features of selected but important benign and malignant tumours and tumour-like lesions of pilosebaceous origin discussed, with emphasis on the diagnostic approach and pitfalls in histological diagnosis.

No abstract

No abstract