Abstract
The melanocyte can give rise to a variety of both benign and malignant lesions that differ in their clinical and histopathological appearance. It is likely that genetic changes underlie this phenotypic diversity. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a genome-wide scanning technique that permits the measurement of copy number aberrations in archival tumors. Using CGH, we have demonstrated significant differences in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in primary cutaneous melanomas and Spitz nevi. Whereas the majority of melanomas have aberrations frequently involving chromosomes 9, 10, 7, and 6, most Spitz nevi do not show aberrations. However, a small subset of Spitz nevi show an isolated gain of the short arm of chromosome lip. As this aberration has not been observed in melanomas, the measurement of chromosomal aberrations should be further evaluated as a diagnostic tool for ambiguous melanocytic tumors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Albertson DG, Ylstra B, Segraves R, Collins C, Dairkee SH, Kowbel D, Kuo WL, Gray JW, Pinkel D (2000) Quantitative mapping of amplicon structure by array CGH identifies CYP24 as a candidate oncogene. Nat Genet 25:144–146.
Barbacid M (1987) ras genes. Annu Rev Biochem 56:779–827.
Barnhill RL, Argenyi ZB, From L, Glass LF, Maize JC, Mihm MC Jr, Rabkin MS, Ronan SG, White WL, Piepkorn M (1999) Atypical Spitz nevi/tumors: lack of consensus for diagnosis, discrimination from melanoma, and prediction of outcome. Hum Pathol 30:513–520.
Bastian BC, LeBoit PE, Hamm H, Brocker EB, Pinkel D (1998) Chromosomal gains and losses in primary cutaneous melanomas detected by comparative genomic hybridization. Cancer Res 58:2170–2175.
Bastian BC, Wesselmann U, Pinkel D, LeBoit PE (1999) Molecular cytogenetic analysis of Spitz nevi show clear differences to melanoma. J Invest Dermatol 113:1065–1069.
Bastian BC, LeBoit PE, Pinkel D (2000) Mutations and copy number increases of HRAS in Spitz nevi with distinctive histopathologic features. Am J Pathol 157:967–972.
Casso EM, Grin-Jorgensen CM, Grant-Kels JM (1992) Spitz nevi. J Am Acad Dermatol 27:901–913.
Cook MG (1997) Diagnostic discord with melanoma (editorial; comment; see comments). J Pathol 182:247–249.
Corona R, Mele A, Amini M, De Rosa G, Coppola G, Piccardi P, Fucci M, Pasquini P, Faraggiana T (1996) Interobserver variability on the histopathologic diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma and other pigmented skin lesions J Clin Oncol 14:1218–1223.
Del Mar C, Green A, Cooney T, Cutbush K, Lawrie S, Adkins G (1994) Melanocytic lesions excised from the skin: what percentage are malignant (See comments.) Aust J Public Health 18:221–223.
Farmer ER, Gonin R, Hanna MP (1996) Discordance in the histopathologic diagnosis of melanoma and melanocytic nevi between expert pathologists. Hum Pathol 27:528–531.
Goldes J, Holmes S, Satz M, Cich J, Dehner L (1984) Melanoma masquerading as Spitz nevus following acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Dermatol 1:295–298.
Harvell JD, Bastian BC, LeBoit PE (2001) Persistent and recurrent Spitz nevi: a histopathologic, immunohistochemical and molecular pathologic study of 22 cases. Am J Pathol (in press).
Jackson R (1997) Malignant melanoma: a review of 75 malpractice cases. Int J Dermatol 36:497–498.
Jen J, Powell SM, Papadopoulos N, Smith KJ, Hamilton SR, Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW (1994) Molecular determinants of dysplasia in colorectal lesions, Cancer Res 54:5523–5526.
Kallioniemi A, Kallioniemi OP, Sudar D, Rutovitz D, Gray JW, Waldman F, Pinkel D (1992) Comparative genomic hybridization for molecular cytogenetic analysis of solid tumors. Science 258:818–821.
Kempf W, Haeffner AC, Mueller B, Panizzon RG, Burg G (1998) Experts and gold standards in dermatopathology: qualitative and quantitative analysis of the self-assessment slide seminar at the 17th colloquium of the International Society of Dermatopathology. Am J Dermatopathol 20:478–482.
Piepkorn M (1995) On the nature of histologic observations: the case of the Spitz nevus. J Am Acad Dermatol 32:248–254.
Piepkorn M, Odland PB (1997) Quality of care in the diagnosis of melanoma and related melanocytic lesions. Arch Dermatol 133:1393–1396.
Pinkel D, Segraves R, Sudar D, Clark S, Poole I, Kowbel D, Collins C, Kuo WL, Chen C, Zhai Y, Dairkee SH, Ljung BM, Gray JW, Albertson DG (1998) High resolution analysis of DNA copy number variation using comparative genomic hybridization to microarrays. Nat Genet 20:207–211.
Rigel DS, Carucci JA (2000) Malignant melanoma: prevention, early detection, and treatment in the 21st century. CA Cancer J Clin 50:215–236.
Spatz A, Ruiter D, Hardmeier T, Renard N, Wechsler J, Bailly C, Avril MF, Kwee H, Bastian BC, Hill C, De Potter C, Prade M (1996) Melanoma in childhood: an EORTC-MCG multi- center study on the clinico-pathological aspects. Int J Cancer 68:317–324.
Spitz S (1948) Melanoma of childhood. Am J Pathol 24:591–609.
Troxel DB, Sabella JD (1994) Problem areas in pathology practice. Uncovered by a review of malpractice claims (see comments). Am J Surg Pathol 18:821–831.
Veenhuizen KC, de Wit PE, Mooi WJ, Scheffer E, Verbeek AL, Ruiter DJ (1997) Quality assessment by expert opinion in melanoma pathology: experience of the pathology panel of the Dutch Melanoma Working Party (see comments). J Pathol 182:266–272.
Wakely SL, Baxendine-Jones JA, Gallagher PJ, Mullee M, Pickering R (1998) Aberrant diagnoses by individual surgical pathologists (see comments). Am J Surg Pathol 22:77–82.
Weedon D (1997) Skin pathology. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.
Weinberg RA (1989) Oncogenes, antioncogenes, and the molecular bases of multistep carcinogenesis. Cancer Res 49:3713–372.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bastian, B.C. (2002). Molecular Cytogenetics as a Diagnostic Tool for Typing Melanocytic Tumors. In: Dummer, R., Nestle, F.O., Burg, G. (eds) Cancers of the Skin. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 160. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59410-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59410-6_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63969-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-59410-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive