title: Mucinous carcinoma of the skin, primary, and secondary: a clinicopathologic study of 63 cases with emphasis on the morphologic spectrum of primary cutaneous forms: homologies with mucinous lesions in the breast.
abstract: We present the largest series of mucinous carcinoma involving the skin, describing the histopathologic, immunohistochemical, electron microscopic, and cytogenetic findings. Our aim was fully to characterize the clinicopathologic spectrum and compare it with that seen in the breast. In addition, we wished to reevaluate the differential diagnostic criteria for distinguishing primary mucinous carcinomas from histologically similar neoplasms involving the skin secondarily, and study some aspects of their pathogenesis. We demonstrate that primary cutaneous mucinous carcinomas span a morphologic spectrum compatible to their mammary counterparts. Both pure and mixed types can be delineated morphologically, and some lesions have mucocele-like configurations. Most lesions seem to originate from in situ lesions that may represent, using mammary pathology terminology, ductal hyperplasia, atypical ductal hyperplasia, or ductal carcinoma in situ or a combination of the three. Inverse cell polarity appears to facilitate the progression of the changes similar to lesions in the breast. The presence of an in situ component defines the neoplasm as primary cutaneous, but its absence does not exclude the diagnosis; although for such neoplasms, full clinical assessment is essential. Mammary mucinous carcinoma involving the skin: all patients presented with lesions on chest wall, breast, axilla, and these locations can serve as clue to the breast origin. Microscopically, cutaneous lesions were of both pure and mixed type, and this correlated with the primary in the breast. Dirty necrosis was a constant histologic finding in intestine mucinous carcinomas involving the skin, and this feature may serve as a clue to an intestinal origin.
authors.affiliation: Sikl's Department of Pathology, Charles University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Alej Svobody 80, 304-60 Pilsen, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dmitry V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Kazakov
authors.forename: Saul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suster
authors.forename: Philip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: LeBoit
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calonje
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bisceglia
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kutzner
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rütten
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mentzel
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schaller
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zelger
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baltaci
authors.forename: Ilmo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leivo
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukunaga
authors.forename: Roderick H W
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavazza
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hes
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mukensnabl
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vanecek
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fidalgo
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pizinger
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michal
mesh_terms: D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D018567:Breast Neoplasms, Male / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary