Premium
Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome: Melanoma‐prone Disease
Author(s) -
Tsukamoto Hidekazu,
Hayashibe Kazuhito,
Ichihashi Masamitsu
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.1992.tb03762.x
Subject(s) - hypervascularity , melanoma , proliferating cell nuclear antigen , pathology , dysplastic nevus , stroma , biology , antigen , malignant transformation , immunohistochemistry , cancer research , medicine , nevus , immunology
Regardless of subsequent clinical courses of patients with dysplastic nevi (DN), substantial evidence supporting DN as one of the melanoma‐prone diseases is not yet available, especially in sporadic DN, due to the lack of genetic information other than retrospective studies in clinical observation. This study aimed at the immunohistological characterization of sporadic DN distinct from common nevi (CN) and at the evaluation of the potentiality of sporadic DN for malignant transformation. We considered our results together with previous immunological and epidemiological reports. We noted the following three immunohistological characteristics. 1) Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), one of the markers for active cell division, could be detected on DN cells in junctional nests of only one among ten DN examined but not on CN cells at all. 2) The altered expression of α ‐smooth muscle actin ( α ‐Sma), often observed in melanoma cells, could not be detected in DN cells. However, anti‐ α ‐Sma monoclonal antibody (MoAb) clearly demonstrated distinctive hypervascularity in the stroma surrounding DN when compared with CN. 3) ME491 antigen, which is known to be expressed mainly in the radial growth phase of melanoma, was detected with similar intensity on both DN and CN. These data indicate that DN has a somewhat higher potentiality than CN for cell division and secretion of some cytokines which can induce hypervascularity in the surrounding stroma, but that DN has not yet undergone the significant phenotypic changes observed in melanoma cells. Further advancements in understanding molecular events in DN cells will be of great benefit in setting DN in the multiple oncogenic spectrum from pigment cells to melanoma.