title: Melanocyte chemotactic factor produced by skin metastases of a breast carcinoma.
abstract: A 65-year-old woman underwent right modified radical mastectomy for a malignant lesion which had developed just below the right nipple. Two years after the operation, skin lesions composed of dark brown to black, pigmented, papular lesions developed in the precordia. A biopsy revealed this to be a cutaneous metastasis of the previous breast carcinoma. However numerous pigment blockade melanocytes were also found in the tumor nests, located in and/or beneath the epidermis. Although a black-colored breast carcinoma has been reported, the presence of pigment blockade melanocytes was not determined. Culture of the tumor nest recovered a population of melanocytes as well as the carcinoma cells. Boyden chamber analysis revealed the presence of a chemotactic factor for melanocytes in the culture medium. This seems to be the first documentation of melanocyte incorporation in breast carcinoma tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Kyushu University, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konomi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Imayama
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagae
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Terasaka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chijiiwa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yashima
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D002630:Chemotactic Factors