Expression of c‐kit (CD117) in Spitz nevus and malignant melanoma

Zhu, Yanan; Fitzpatrick, James E.

doi:10.1111/j.0303-6987.2006.00420.x

Cited by 57 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In our study, we observed that c-Kit, in the junctional component of benign and malignant lesions, is constantly expressed, with minimal differences between intensity and percentage, while in the dermal component of both benign nevi and melanomas there is a decrease in expression of c-Kit. In metastatic melanoma with only dermal component, c-Kit expression was absent or minimally present as well as been reported by Zhu et al and Guerriere et al 22,25 Besides a decrease of c-Kit expression in the intradermal component of pigmented lesions, our statistical data showed higher values of the intensity and of the percentage c-Kit positive cells in melanomas. Our study suggests that c-Kit is not a specific marker discriminator between junctional component of benign melanocytic nevi and superficial spreading melanoma.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…These final models (represented in Table 5) were obtained after considering age, type, sex and dimension of lesions in order to account for possible confounders. For the sake of comparison, in Table 6 we report the analysis using product staining and t-test with Welch correction as performed by Zhu et al 22 For instance, association between expression in dermal melanocytes in the melanoma group compared to benign lesion has a P-value of 0.032, which is higher than 0.015 (Table 5 and 6). Finally, we also reported no association between epidermal melanocytes in the melanoma group compared to benign lesions with a P-value much higher than 0.057 (either in intensity or percentage).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, IMP-3 (insulin-like growth factor-II messenger RNA-binding protein-3) may have diagnostic utility in distinguish melanoma from benign nevi, displastic nevi and Spitz nevi 31. Zhu et al proposed that CD117 is unlikely to be a useful diagnostic tool to differentiate Spitz nevus from malignant melanoma but may be useful to differentiate metastatic melanoma from primary melanoma in patients who have a history of melanoma and who presented with new dermal lesions 22. Increased Wilms’ tumor 1 protein (WT1) expression has been proposed as a marker of melanoma cells.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The usefulness of c-Kit in the immunohistochemical assessment of melanocytic lesions

et al. 2011

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C-Kit (CD117), the receptor for the stem cell factor, a growth factor for melanocyte migration and proliferation, has shown differential immunostaining in various benign and malignant melanocytic lesions. The purpose of this study is to compare c-Kit immunostaining in benign nevi and in primary and metastatic malignant melanomas, to determine whether c-Kit can aid in the differential diagnosis of these lesions. c-Kit immunostaining was performed in 60 cases of pigmented lesions, including 39 benign nevi (5 blue nevi, 5 intra-dermal nevi, 3 junctional nevi, 15 cases of primary compound nevus, 11 cases of Spitz nevus), 18 cases of primary malignant melanoma and 3 cases of metastatic melanoma. The vast majority of nevi and melanomas examined in this study were positive for c-Kit, with minimal differences between benign and malignant lesions. C-Kit cytoplasmatic immunoreactivity in the intraepidermal proliferating nevus cells, was detected in benign pigmented lesions as well as in malignant melanoma, increasing with the age of patients (P=0.007) in both groups. The patient’s age at presentation appeared to be the variable able to cluster benign and malignant pigmented lesions. The percentage of c-Kit positive intraepidermal nevus cells was better associated with age despite other variables (P=0.014). The intensity and percentage of c-Kit positivity in the proliferating nevus cells in the dermis was significantly increased in malignant melanocytic lesions (P=0.015 and P=0.008) compared to benign lesions (compound melanocytic nevi, Spitz nevi, intradermal nevi, blue nevi). Immunostaning for c-Kit in metastatic melanomas was negative. Interestingly in two cases of melanoma occurring on a pre-existent nevus, the melanoma tumor cells showed strong cytoplasmatic and membranous positivity for c-kit, in contrast with the absence of any immunoreactivity in pre-existent intradermal nevus cells. C-Kit does not appear to be a strong immunohistochemical marker for distinguishing melanoma from melanocytic nevi, if we consider c-Kit expression in intraepidermal proliferating cells. The c-Kit expression in proliferating melanocytes in the dermis could help in the differential diagnosis between a superficial spreading melanoma (with dermis invasion) and a compound nevus or an intradermal nevus. Finally, c-Kit could be a good diagnostic tool for distinguishing benign compound nevi from malignant melanocytic lesions with dermis invasion and to differentiate metastatic melanoma from primary melanoma.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The usefulness of c-Kit in the immunohistochemical assessment of melanocytic lesions

et al. 2011

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“…Proliferation index markers (eg, Ki67, MIB-1) also show greater labelling towards the surface. Numerous other immunohistochemical markers (CD99,50 92 cyclin D1,38 45 p16,46 92, c-kit,49 92 bcl-2,45 others45 92) have shown positive expression in Spitz naevi, but none have reproducibly been shown to differentiate benign from malignant Spitzoid lesions. Spitz naevi tend to show limited cytogenetic abnormalities in contrast with melanomas, which tend to show a multitude of changes106–109 (discussed above).…”

Section: Spindle Cell Melanocytic Lesionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spindle cell melanocytic lesions—part I: an approach to compound naevoidal pattern lesions with spindle cell morphology and Spitzoid pattern lesions

2010

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Melanocytic lesions show great morphological diversity in their architecture and the cytomorphological appearance of their composite cells. Whereas functional melanocytes reveal a dendritic cytomorphology and territorial isolation, lesional naevomelanocytes and melanoma cells typically show epithelioid, spindled or mixed cytomorphologies and a range of architectural arrangements. Spindling is common to melanocytic lesions, and may be either a characteristic feature or a divergent appearance. The presence of spindle cells may mask the melanocytic nature of a lesion, and is often disconcerting, either because of its infrequent appearance in a particular lesion or its interpretation as a dedifferentiated phenotype. Spindle cell melanocytic lesions follow the full spectrum of potential biological outcomes, and difficulty may be experienced judging the nature of a lesion because of a lack of consistently reliable features to predict biological behaviour. Over time, recognition of numerous histomorphological features that may portend a more aggressive lesion have been identified. However, the translation of these features into a diagnostic entity requires a gestalt approach. Although most spindle cell melanocytic lesions can reliably be resolved with this standard approach, problem areas do exist and cause no end of grief to the surgical pathologist or dermatopathologist. In this review, the authors present their algorithmic approach to spindle cell melanocytic lesions and discuss each entity in turn, in order to (1) model a systematic approach to such lesions, and (2) provide familiarity with those melanocytic lesions that either typically or occasionally display a spindled cytomorphology.

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“…From these markers, S-100 and NKI-Beteb/HMB-45 are widely used in routine diagnostic pathology of melanocytic tumors. Markers such as tyrosinase-related protein (TRP-1, TRP-2), highmolecular-weight melanoma-associated antigen (HMW-MAA, which is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglygan), human leukocyte antigen (HLA class I and II), and many others have also been shown to be valuable for the assessment of melanocytic tumors [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. However, the diagnosis of some melanocytic lesions in different stages of tumor progression and melanoma metastasis still lacks consistency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antigenic profiles of individual-matched pairs of primary and melanoma metastases

et al. 2009

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Expression of c‐kit (CD117) in Spitz nevus and malignant melanoma

Abstract: CD117 is unlikely a useful diagnostic tool in differentiating Spitz nevus from primary MM. On the other hand, CD 117 may be useful in differentiating metastatic melanoma from primary melanoma in patients who had a history of melanoma and who present with new dermal lesions.

Cited by 57 publications

References 19 publications

The usefulness of c-Kit in the immunohistochemical assessment of melanocytic lesions

The usefulness of c-Kit in the immunohistochemical assessment of melanocytic lesions

Spindle cell melanocytic lesions—part I: an approach to compound naevoidal pattern lesions with spindle cell morphology and Spitzoid pattern lesions

Antigenic profiles of individual-matched pairs of primary and melanoma metastases

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