title: Clear-cell melanocytic lesions with balloon-cell and sebocyte-like melanocytes: a unifying concept.
abstract: Melanocytes may assume unique shapes and sizes but rarely have clear cytoplasm. We studied 28 melanocytic lesions that contained clear-cell melanocytes of the balloon-cell and sebocyte-like types. Clear-cell melanocytes were found more commonly in females (64%) than in males (36%), with predominance in females younger than 50 years (79%) and predominance in males older than 50 years (67%). They were distributed evenly throughout the body but were not found on acral sites. Clear-cell melanocytes were most prevalent in congenital nevi (18 or 72%) but were also found in 5 Clark nevi, 2 Meischer nevi, 1 Unna nevus, 1 atypical intra-epidermal proliferation, and 1 melanoma. The clear cells were distributed diffusely in 86% of the lesions and focally in 14%. The overall percentage of clear-cell melanocytes was 56%. The percentage of balloon cells was 57% and sebocyte-like melanocytes 32%. Clear cells with morphologic features of both balloon cells and sebocyte-like melanocytes, that is, intermediate cells, were present in all lesions with an overall percentage of 12%. The presence of melanocytes of both the balloon-cell and sebocyte-like types and the finding of clear-cell melanocytes with intermediate features in all lesions lends support to the theory that balloon-cell and sebocyte-like melanocytes may represent morphologic expressions of the same alteration in melanogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Viktoryia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kazlouskaya
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maia-Cohen
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009506:Nevus / Q000473:pathology; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult