Cytologic diagnosis of a melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy occurring in the cranial bones

Establishment and characterization of new cell lines derived from melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy arising in the mandible

“…Melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy (MNTI) or melanotic progonoma is a rare benign tumor that usually affects jaw bones of newborn infants under the age of 6 months. Almost 70% of the cases occur in the maxilla, while 5% occur in the mandible, 1–3 in addition to the skull bone, epididymis, skin, brain, cerebellum, uterus, ovary and mediastinum 2–5 . This tumor has been referred to by other synonyms such as congenital melanocarcinoma, 6 retinal anlage tumor, 7 melanotic epithelial odontoma, 8 melanotic and pigmented adamantinoma, 9,10 melanotic ameloblastoma, 11 retinal choriostoma and melanotic progonoma, 12 and neuroectodermal tumor of infancy, 13 indicating its controversial histopathogenesis.…”

“…Histopathologically, the tumor cell nests of MNTI are formed of two types of cells in the desmoplastic stroma: one is large epithelioid cells with melanin pigments usually located in the outer zone of the tumor cell nest, and the other is small lymphocyte‐like round‐shaped cells loosely arranged in the center of the nest 1–5,13–19 . The latter cells are usually immunohistochemically positive for neurogenic and sometimes myogenic markers, which indicates their polyphenotypic differentiation 14,15,17,19,20 .…”

“…Almost 70% of the cases occur in the maxilla, while 5% occur in the mandible, [1][2][3] in addition to the skull bone, epididymis, skin, brain, cerebellum, uterus, ovary and mediastinum. [2][3][4][5] This tumor has been referred to by other synonyms such as congenital melanocarcinoma, 6 retinal anlage tumor, 7 melanotic epithelial odontoma, 8 melanotic and pigmented adamantinoma, 9,10 melanotic ameloblastoma, 11 retinal choriostoma and melanotic progonoma, 12 and neuroectodermal tumor of infancy, 13 indicating its controversial histopathogenesis. According to previous immunohistochemical and ultrastructural data and gene expression modes, a neural crest origin has been proposed, although its actual cell origin has not yet been determined.…”

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Histopathologically, the tumor cell nests of MNTI are formed of two types of cells in the desmoplastic stroma: one is large epithelioid cells with melanin pigments usually located in the outer zone of the tumor cell nest, and the other is small lymphocyte-like round-shaped cells loosely arranged in the center of the nest. [1][2][3][4][5][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The latter cells are usually immunohistochemically positive for neurogenic and sometimes myogenic markers, which indicates their polyphenotypic differentiation. 14,15,17,19,20 The former cells always express keratin, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and melanomaassociated antigen (HMB-45) but are occasionally immunopositive for vimentin, S-100 protein, synaptophysin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), which indicates their neural and epithelial differentiation.…”

Melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy in the soft tissues of the arm: Fine needle aspiration biopsy and histologic correlation–a case report

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] However, few reports documenting the cytomorphological features of MNTI are avail-able. [7][8][9] We describe herein a case of soft tissue MNTI, pointing out its distinctive cytology in the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) smears, which is the clue to correct diagnosis even in atypical sites.…”