Trichilemmal carcinoma - a rare cutaneous malignancy: report of two cases.

The trichilemmal carcinoma is a rare low-grade malignant lesion originating from hair follicle cells that usually occurs on sun-exposed skin of older individuals. A differential diagnostic is required with other skin carcinomas. We report two cases of trichilemmal carcinoma admitted at the Emergency University Hospital of Bucharest, Romania, in 2012, one of these cases being localized in the periocular area and the other one resembling a cutaneous horn. These cases present several unusual aspects that are rarely described in the literature namely the site of the tumor which in the eyelid, development of a cutaneous horn, IHC tests which revealed EMA (epithelial membrane antigen) positivity in tumor cells. Considering that this type of tumor seldom develops metastases or local recurrences, and all the cases had free margins, there was no adjuvant therapy.

Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma: pathological study of nine cases with review of literature.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is classified in many subtypes or forms; one of them is the acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma, also called pseudoglandular, adenoid, epithelioma dyskeratoticum segregans, or adenoacanthoma. Researching and analyzing nine cases of acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma, we intend to verify if the data provided by the cases studied can be validated by the scientific literature. All the cases presented lesions found on the head and neck skin, with two exceptions - one on the larynx and the other one on the tonsil, all of them ulcerated lesions. In two cases, the tumors developed on the skin, in preneoplasic lesions (actinic keratosis). The tumors had dimensions between 4/3/4 mm and 100/90/36 mm. During one year, two of the cases studied presented multiple recurrences. We also found two cases of metatypical carcinoma accompanied the acantholytic variant of squamous cell carcinoma. None of the analyzed cases presented distant metastasis. The histopathological criteria for selection were: keratinised squamous tumor cell type, adenoid structures with round spaces with a defined wall of at least one cell width, spaces with isolated or grouped dyskeratotic acantholytic cells.

Dermatoscopy of an invasive melanoma on the upper lip shows possible association with Laugier-Hunziker syndrome.

We report mucosal melanoma of the upper lip in a patient affected by the Laugier-Hunziker disease. Using dermatoscopy, two distinct parts were identified in the same mucosal area: nodular (malignant) and macular (benign). A complete surgical excision was performed and the patient has been free of disease for 16 months.

Stem cells (p63(+)) in keratinocyte cultures from human adult skin.

Epidermal stem cells (ESC) are responsible for maintaining skin cellular homeostasis, as they give rise to fast-dividing transit amplifying cells committed to terminal differentiation, while retaining their self-renewal capacity. However, no pure ESC cultures are available and no highly specific cytochemical marker was identified. We report here the experimental conditions allowing the selective enrichment in ESC, using cultured adult human keratinocytes. The main step was the selection of cells able to rapidly adhere to human collagen type IV in vitro. Thus, an increased proportion of putative ESC of about 65% was obtained, as demonstrated by p63 expression.