The presence of oncocytosis in melanoma naevi is both relatively common and an under-recognised phenomenon, according to American researchers.
Oncocytosis is defined as “a metaplastic change characterized by the presence of cells with finely granular eosinophilic cytoplasm caused by the accumulation of mitochondria.” While this histologic feature may be observed in normal tissue, it can also be regarded pathologically as a degenerative phenomenon in which accumulated mitochondria is believed to compensate for an uncoupling of oxidative metabolism, secondary to cellular ageing.
Although it has been observed in various cutaneous lesions, oncocytic metaplasia, to the researchers’ knowledge, it has not previously been seen in melanocytic naevi. Consequently, dermatologists at James Haley Veterans Hospital and the University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, retrospectively reviewed 87 melanocytic naevi in 83 patients which were displaying significant oncocytic change. Clinical histories were provided from surveys undertaken by the patients’ physicians.




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