PURPOSE Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a tripeptide hormone produced by the hypothalamus in response to hypothyroidism. RNA transcripts for the TRH prohormone have recently been described in melanoma cell lines. To expand these findings, we have examined cultured melanoma cells and melanocytes, human melanoma tumors, and nevi for the expression of TRH. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Five melanom...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the clinical changes in clinically distinctive scalp nevi over time in children to help guide management and avoid misdiagnosis as melanoma. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Washington University School of Medicine pediatric dermatology clinics. Patients Of 93 patients younger than 18 years with photographically documented, clinically distinctive scalp nevi, 28 (30%) c...

PURPOSE To describe 3 cases of primary orbital melanoma associated with either known or subsequently discovered cellular blue nevus. METHODS The clinical records and surgical specimens of 3 patients who underwent orbital exenteration for primary orbital melanoma and who had a cellular blue nevus diagnosed before or after detection of the melanoma were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS All 3...

Spontaneous regression in melanomas is not an uncommon phenomenon, as it has been described in 10-35% of primary cutaneous lesions [1]. Regression does not appear to predict a more favorable course, since even fully regressed melanomas may progress into metastatic disease [2]. Several dermoscopic features have been correlated with the regression process, including white scar-like depigmented ar...

Nevi are a main risk factor for malignant melanoma, and most nevi develop in childhood. This study examined the relationship between vacations and nevi in 681 White children born in 1998 who were lifetime residents of Colorado. Vacation histories were assessed through telephone interviews of parents, whereas nevus and phenotypic characteristics were assessed through skin exams at age 7. Multipl...

Figure 1. Preoperative photograph showing the overlying melanocytic nevi. DESCRIPTION We present a 13-year-old male patient with congenital melanocytic nevi and a yearlong history of enlarging right preauricular mass. Examination revealed 2 congenital melanocytic nevi overlying a large, firm, mobile 2.7 × 2.5-cm subcutaneous mass with irregular borders. Pathology confirmed intradermal melanocyt...

We have examined melanocytic cells derived directly from fresh biopsy tissue for the presence of p53 mutations. Using selective media that permits growth of melanocytes and inhibits growth of fibroblasts and keratinocytes, we established short-term, primary cultures of melanocytes from skin biopsies of common acquired nevi, dysplastic nevi, and from metastatic melanoma. Using PCR-single-strande...

The beta-chain repertoire of the T cells that infiltrate spontaneously regressing nevi (the halo nevus phenomenon) was studied. In addition to the infiltration of the halo nevi by cutaneous lymphocyte-associated Ag-positive lymphocytes, oligoclonal expansion of T cells was observed in all halo nevi of all patients. T cells using the same TCR beta-chain were observed in distinct halo nevi of the...

The main objective of this study was to assess whether cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) shows a stronger relation with the melanocytic nevi count at the site where CMM was diagnosed than with the melanocytic nevi count at other sites, stratifying by histologic CMM type, in a southern Mediterranean population. Cases and controls were selected from a population in southern Spain in 1988-1993. T...

OBJECTIVES To describe the clinicopathologic features of melanocytic proliferations associated with lichen sclerosus (LS) and to compare these findings with those in controls. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Academic and private practice dermatology and dermatopathology services. PATIENTS Cases of melanocytic proliferations associated with LS and consecutive controls with persistent (recurre...