A Current Dilemma in Histopathology: Atypical Spitz Tumor or Spitzoid Melanoma?

Abstract

Both clinically and histopathologically, melanoma of childhood is a rarely encountered lesion. In addition, it has particular histopathologic diagnostic problems. Differential diagnosis of this lesion and Spitz nevus is at times very problematic, in that distant metastases and death of the patient may be the only diagnostic criteria for some cases. We present a 4-year-old girl with an atypical melanocytic neoplasm with Spitzoid features on the left subscapular region.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy for melanoma and other melanocytic tumors in adolescents

“…However, both patients are disease free at 22 and 33 months of follow-up. Although anecdotal with only 2 patients, review of the limited pediatric literature for patients undergoing SLNBX for atypical Spitz nevi reveals similarly long disease-free survival as compared with adults with pathologically confirmed melanoma and positive SNs [9][10][11][12]30].…”

Survival in sentinel lymph node–positive pediatric melanoma

“…Despite a lack of demonstrated clinical benefit, it has become standard to offer CLND to adults with a positive SLN. Review of the limited literature on SLNBX for pediatric melanoma shows that this practice is also being applied in this younger population [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with “atypical Spitz tumors.” A report on 12 cases

“…In 2005, Roaten et al [29] found metastatic melanocytic deposits in 2 of 3 patients with atypical Spitz tumors. Moreover, 2 of 3 young patients with atypical Spitz tumors, reported by Zuckerman et al [30] and by Gurbuz et al [31], showed metastatic sentinel nodes. In sum, including our cases, 21 (45.6%) of 46 patients with atypical Spitz tumors, who have undergone sentinel lymph node biopsy, have been found to have lymph node metastases.…”