title: Malignant melanoma of soft tissue. A report of three cases with diagnosis by fine needle aspiration cytology.
abstract: A correlated cytologic and histologic study of three cases of malignant melanoma of soft tissue (MMST) is presented. The patients' ages ranged from 21 to 36 years. Two were females and one, male. In two cases fine needle aspiration cytology was done to document local recurrence or metastatic disease and in one to establish a primary diagnosis. The cytologic findings were similar in all cases. The smears were composed of noncohesive tumor cells with monotonous, uniform nuclei, prominent nucleoli and plentiful, light blue cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical studies performed in all cases demonstrated staining positive for S-100 protein. Electron microscopy from two cases showed premelanosomes and melanosomes. These results demonstrate that a precise diagnosis of MMST can be rendered on material obtained by aspiration cytology.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patologia Morfologica, Instituto Portugues de Oncologia, Lisbon.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Frable
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D018227:Sarcoma, Clear Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D009418:S100 Proteins