TY - JOUR A1 - Frey, Li­dia M. A1 - Houben, Roland A1 - Bröcker, Eva-B. T1 - Pigmentation, Melanocyte Colonization, and p53 Status in Basal Cell Carcinoma N2 - Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common neoplasm in the Caucasian population. Only a fraction of BCC exhibits pigmentation. Lack of melanocyte colonization has been suggested to be due to p53-inactivating mutations in the BCC cells interfering with the p53-proopiomelanocortin pathway and the production of alpha melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the tumor. To evaluate this, we determined tumor pigmentation as well as expression of melan-A and of p53 in 49 BCC tissues bymeans of immunohistochemistry. As expected, we observed a positive relation between tumor pigmentation and melan-A positive intratumoral melanocytes.Melanocyte colonization and, to a lesser extent, p53 overexpression showed intraindividual heterogeneity in larger tumors. p53 overexpression, which is indicative of p53 mutations, was not correlated to melanocyte colonization of BCC. Sequencing of exon 5–8 of the p53 gene in selected BCC cases revealed that colonization by melanocytes and BCC pigmentation is neither ablated by p53 mutations nor generally present in BCCs with wild-type p53. KW - Medizin Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68283 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Winter, Julia A1 - Kneitz, Hermann A1 - Bröcker, Eva-B. T1 - Blood Vessel Density in Basal Cell Carcinomas and Benign Trichogenic Tumors as a Marker for Differential Diagnosis in Dermatopathology N2 - In order to get insight into the density of blood vessels in the stroma of benign and malignant trichogenic neoplasms, immunohistological quantification of CD 31 positive vessels was performed in 112 tumors, comprised of 50 BCCs of nodular (35) or morphoeic (15) growth patterns, 17 Pinkus’ tumors, as well as 17 trichoepitheliomas of which 6 were desmoplastic, 8 trichofolliculomas, and 20 trichoblastomas. Methods. Vessel density was counted within the tumors, in the tumor-surrounding stroma, and, as a control, in the normal skin of the operation specimen. The results were compared using statistical methods. Results. Whereas, irrespective of the patients’ age and location of tumors, the vessel density in normal skin showed no significant differences (8.8 ± 2.7), the counts in the peritumoral stroma revealed significant differences between the different tumors investigated. The highest counts were obtained in BCC (24.7 ± 6.7) and the lowest in benign trichogenic neoplasms (around 14) Pinkus’ tumors revealed intermediate counts (19.7 ± 6.6). The vessel densities within the tumors were generally low, and no correlation to the dignity was found. Conclusion. Determination of blood vessel density in the peritumoral stroma may be an additional parameter for differential diagnosis of trichogenic tumors of uncertain dignity. KW - Medizin Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68275 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Kneitz, H. A1 - Bröcker, Eva B. A1 - Becker, JC T1 - Mycosis fungoides bullosa: a case report and review of the literature N2 - Introduction: Mycosis fungoides, the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, can manifest in a variety of clinical and histological forms. Bulla formation is an uncommon finding in mycosis fungoides and only approximately 20 cases have been reported in the literature. Case presentation: We present a case of rapidly progressive mycosis fungoides in a 68-year-old Caucasian man who initially presented with erythematous plaques characterised by blister formation. Conclusion: Although mycosis fungoides bullosa is extremely rare, it has to be regarded as an important clinical subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Mycosis fungoides bullosa represents a particularly aggressive form of mycosis fungoides and is associated with a poor prognosis. The rapid disease progression in our patient confirms bulla formation as an adverse prognostic sign in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. KW - Mycosis fungoides bullosa Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68233 ER -