PRAME expression in cellular neurothekeoma: A study of 11 cases.

BACKGROUND: Preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) has been widely investigated in the skin, mainly in melanocytic tumors, and constitutes an aid in differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Very few studies have been performed on non-melanocytic tumors.

MATERIALS: We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of PRAME on a series of 11 neurothekeomas (NTKs), together with 3 cases of nerve sheath myxoma (NSM) and 1 case of plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor (PFT), in order to evaluate the presence and usefulness of this marker in their differential diagnosis.

RESULTS: PRAME was variably expressed in all cases of NTK, with moderate intensity in three cases and faint in the remaining cases; on the contrary, cases of NSM and PFT were negative.

CONCLUSIONS: This study expands the entities of cutaneous non-melanocytic tumors expressing PRAME, and confirms that this marker is not restricted to malignant tumors. Expression of PRAME in NTK does not seem to be related to distinctive histopathologic features.