Trichoepithelioma With Giant and Multinucleated Neoplastic Epithelial Cells

Abstract

We report an unusual example of trichoepithelioma containing giant and multinucleated cells in the epithelial compartment. The patient was a 52-year-old woman who presented with a solitary nodule on the scalp measuring 2 cm of apparently long duration. The biopsy revealed a typical trichoepithelioma. The unusual feature was the presence in some epithelial nodules of large epithelial cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and no visible nucleoli that exceed 3 to 5 times the adjacent follicular germinative cells. Often, multinucleated cells were seen. Rare nodules were almost entirely composed of giant/multinucleated cells. The majority of the nodules containing giant cells were situated in the deeper portion of the neoplasm. No mitoses were seen in these giant cells. No enlarged or multinucleated cells were seen in the stroma. The neoplastic epithelial cells were diffusely reactive for bcl-2, including the giant and multinucleated cells. The proliferating rate was low; Ki-67 stained some giant cells. CD34 stained the stroma. We believe that the focal presence of pleomorphic giant cells in trichoepithelioma has no clinical or prognostic implications and does not denote its "malignant transformation".