The Golden Anniversary of the Spitz Nevus

Shimek, Cristina M.; Golitz, Loren E.

doi:10.1001/archderm.135.3.333

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…Clinically, there are a variety of melanocytic lesions, including atypical Spitz's nevus, pigmented spindle cell nevus, deep penetrating nevus, and atypical combined nevus, that often morphologically and immunohistochemically mimic melanoma 6-11. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify novel biochemical and/or molecular markers that are melanoma-specific, to assist clinical differentiation, early detection, and intervention of melanoma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WT-1 expression in a spectrum of melanocytic lesions: Implication for differential diagnosis

Chung¹,

Man²,

Lupton³

2010

J. Cancer

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A previous in vitro study revealed that Wilms's tumor 1 (WT-1) transcripts were detectable in 7 of 9 melanoma cell lines, but not in any of 5-normal melanocyte strains tested. Our current study assessed the expression levels of WT-1 protein in clinical samples, to determine whether the expression levels of the WT-1 protein may be used as a novel marker to assist differential diagnosis. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 15 cases of malignant melanomas and 25 cases of benign nevi were subjected to immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody against the human WT-1 protein. The expression levels of WT-1 protein among normal, benign, and malignant melanocytes were semi-quantitatively assessed. Strong and uniform WT-1 immunoreactivities were seen in all or nearly all tumor cells in both the junctional and dermal components of all malignant melanomas, and also in a vast majority of the tumor cells of Spitz's (n = 8), recurrent (n = 2), and junction (n = 2) nevi. Distinct WT-1 immunoreactivities were also seen in some isolated individual tumor cells or tumor cell clusters in the junctional component of compound nevus (9) and in intradermal nevus (2). It is interesting to note that some isolated normal appearing melanocytes or cell clusters, and all morphologically distinct endothelial cells were strongly positive to WT-1. However, all tumor cells within the dermal component of compound (n = 9) or deep penetrating nevi (n = 1), or capsular nevus inclusion of lymph node (1) were devoid of WT-1 expression. Our findings suggest that the expression level of the WT-1 protein has no significant value in distinguishing between Spitz's nevi and malignant melanoma, but it may be a useful marker in differentiating between benign and malignant melanocytes within the dermal component. Our findings also suggest that aberrant WT-1 expression may have oncogenic properties that promote the initiation and progression of melanocytic lesions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WT-1 expression in a spectrum of melanocytic lesions: Implication for differential diagnosis

Chung¹,

Man²,

Lupton³

2010

J. Cancer

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“…First described by Sophie Spitz in 1948 and initially named juvenile melanoma, it was originally considered a type of malignant melanoma, 4 and has since been referred to as benign juvenile melanoma, 5 spindle and epithelioid cell nevus, 6 and Spitz nevus. 7 Histologically a Spitz nevus has mostly large epithelioid and/or spindle‐shaped melanocytes with abundant amphophilic cytoplasm, and classically are symmetrical, small, contain clefts between nests of melanocytes and keratinocytes, have sharp lateral demarcation, exhibit maturation of melanocytes, and contain the presence of eosinophilic globules (Kamino bodies) 8,9 ( Table 1, Figure 1B,C). The acquired Spitz nevus has been compared to malignant melanoma histologically due to the many similarities these two melanocytic proliferations have in common.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congenital Spitz Nevus

Harris¹,

Hurwitz²,

Buckel³

et al. 2000

Dermatologic Surgery

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“…She earned both her bachelor of arts (1929) and medical doctorate (1932) from Vanderbilt University. She was married to another famous pathologist, Arthur C. Allen (Shimek and Golitz, 1999). Spitz is well-known for describing juvenile melanomas and proposing a more benign course in children (Spitz, 1948).…”

Section: Pathologistsmentioning

confidence: 99%