Melanoma Arising From a Long-Standing Pigmented Trichoblastoma

Abstract

Trichoblastoma is a benign cutaneous adnexal tumor, composed mostly of follicular germinative cells. Its pigmented variant is colonized by numerous dendritic melanocytes. So far, only one case in the literature describes a combination of trichoblastoma and melanoma. We report the case of a 62-year-old man who had a slow-growing mass of the left flank present since childhood. This 8-cm mass was surgically removed when it became ulcerated and associated with axillary lymph nodes. Histologically, this tumor was strictly dermal and composed of 2 intermingled components. Large sheets of atypical, proliferating epithelioid cells predominated. Dispersed solid nests or cribriform epithelial islets encased in fibrous tissue were also seen. Some nests displayed a massive colonization by pigmented dendritic melanocytes. On immunohistochemical staining, the sheets of atypical cells expressed focally but strongly S100 protein, MelanA, HMB45, and MiTF. Epithelial structures diffusely expressed pancytokeratin AE1/AE3, KL1, and pleckstrin homology-like domain, family A, member 1. Based on these results, we diagnosed an intradermal melanoma, possibly developed from dendritic melanocytes colonizing a giant pigmented trichoblastoma. Direct sequencing of the melanoma revealed a rarely described NRAS mutation c.34G>T (G12C). Array comparative genomic hybridization displayed a complex profile somewhat divergent from standard melanoma profiles. The patient died of widespread metastatic disease 8 months after initial diagnosis.