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Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma

  • Chapter
Book cover Cutaneous Adnexal Neoplasms

Abstract

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma is most frequently located in the skin of the nasolabial and periorbital region.

Histopathologically, the neoplasm shows three components, which are usually arranged in a horizontal stratified way: The upper part of the is composed of small cystic keratinized structures similar to milia cysts surrounded by pale cells or keratinized cells; in the center of the lesion, there are solid aggregates of pale or eosinophilic cells of variable size and shape which are predominant; and, finally, in the deepest portion, there are tubular structures, lined by a double layer of epithelial cells and containing a homogeneous eosinophilic material. The luminal cells of these tubules occasionally show decapitation secretion. Cytologically, this neoplasm does not show cellular atypia and mitotic figures are rare. Perineural involvement is frequent in deeper areas.

Immunohistochemically neoplastic cells express CK15, whereas CEA and EMA stain ductal structures.

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma is a neoplasm of slow growth, locally destructive but with very low metastatic potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain

    Luis Requena

  2. Department of Pathology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA

    Omar Sangüeza

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Requena, L., Sangüeza, O. (2017). Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma. In: Cutaneous Adnexal Neoplasms. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45704-8_26

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