Premium
Electron microscopy in the diagnosis of malignant schwannoma
Author(s) -
Taxy Jerome B.,
Battifora Hector,
Trujillo Yolanda,
Dorfman Howard D.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19810915)48:6<1381::aid-cncr2820480621>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - basal lamina , neurofibromatosis , electron microscope , pathology , schwannoma , ultrastructure , cytoplasm , microscopy , medicine , anatomy , context (archaeology) , schwann cell , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , optics , paleontology , physics
Fifteen malignant schwannomas were examined by light and electron microscopy. Five tumors arose in patients with neurofibromatosis and five were contiguous with a peripheral nerve (Group I). Five tumors met neither of these generally accepted diagnostic criteria but were light microscopically seen as compatible with malignant schwannoma when examined under light microscope (Group II). In the better differentiated areas of Group I lesions, long, overlapping, tightly packed cytoplasmic processes were parallel to homogeneous flocculent material, occasionally assuming a linear appearance suggesting basal lamina. In Group II, similar cytoplasmic processes were present but the extracellular material was less extensive and had a less obvious relationship to the plasma membrane. In neither group were fine intracytoplasmic filaments prominent. Malignant schwann cells are seldom as ultrastructurally differentiated as their benign counterparts. Nevertheless, within the context of well‐studied light microscopy and the sampling error inherent in ultrastructural examination, electron microscopy can support the diagnosis of malignant schwannoma.