Sinonasal amelanotic melanoma with neuroendocrine differentiation: a diagnostic conundrum.

We report a rare case of a 63-year-old female who developed sinonasal amelanotic melanoma with immunohistochemical expression of neuroendocrine markers, presenting a diagnostic dilemma. Ultrastructural evidence of melanosomes and neurosecretory granules aided in arriving at the diagnosis. Aberrant immunoexpression of neuroendocrine markers, particularly in an amelanotic melanoma, has critical diagnostic implications, as various malignancies with undifferentiated histomorphology occur at this site, many of which stain positively with neuroendocrine markers. We discuss the differential diagnoses and recommend a high index of suspicion so as not to miss the diagnosis of mucosal melanoma at this location. PMID: 32164472 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Ultrastructural Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Ultrastruct Pathol Source Type: research