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Notes: A case of a keratoacanthoma arising from the center of a superficial spreading malignant melanoma in situ is presented. The keratoacanthoma already showed regressive changes in its central area, and the superficial spreading malignant melanoma had partially disappeared at the site in which the keratoacanthoma had arisen. The possible mechanisms of these interactions are discussed.

Notes: Abstract – Two cases of verrucous trichoadenoma are reported. Clinically, both lesions were diagnosed as seborrheic keratoses, but histopathologically no areas of basaloid cell proliferation were seen in the numerous sections and there were many small, epidermoid cysts in the dermis which contained one or more vellous hairs. Some of these cysts expelled their horn material into the surface keratin layer in a “boiling pattern”. We propose the term a “verrucous trichoadenoma” for these tumors.

Notes: Background:  Syringomas have traditionally been categorized as benign neoplasms of the eccrine gland ductal epithelium. However, the variety of clinical presentations reported in the literature and some cases recently observed by the authors cast doubt upon the neoplastic nature of eruptive syringomas. Our goal is to challenge the traditional notion that eruptive syringomas are neoplastic lesions.Results:  We observed two patients who presented with an eczematous process, which resolved leaving residual lesions. Biopsies of the late lesions showed features of eccrine syringoma. Yet a biopsy obtained from an incipient lesion in one of the cases showed a lymphocytic inflammatory reaction of the superficial portion of the eccrine duct resulting in tortuous hyperplastic changes.Conclusion:  Based on our observations, some of the so-called ‘eruptive syringoma’ may represent a hyperplastic response of the eccrine duct to an inflammatory reaction rather than a true adnexal neoplasm. We proposed the term ‘syringomatous dermatitis’ for such cases.

Notes: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor (HGF) with many applications in cancer therapy. The most important applications are reduction in the incidence of febrile neutropenia, acceleration of neutrophil recovery after chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation, and mobilization of progenitor cells. Many cutaneous adverse reactions associated with HGF have been reported in recent years, including injection site reactions, pyoderma gangrenosum, Sweet's syndrome, cutaneous leucocytoclastic vasculitis, and widespread folliculitis. The presence of large histiocytes on the dermis between collagen bundles has been proposed as a characteristic histopathologic finding in cutaneous eruptions secondary to granulocyte colony-stimulanting factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. We report on a patient with a high-risk ductal infiltrating carcinoma of the breast who received high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) with peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) rescue. The patient received G-CSF after PBPC for a faster granulocyte recovery. She developed a cutaneous eruption located on back, buttocks, axillae, groin and sites where electrocardiography electrodes had been placed. From the histopathological point of view, the eruption was characterized by the presence of numerous large, atypical histiocytes in the dermis with several mitotic figures, mimicking involvement of the dermis by a malignant process.

Notes: We report a trichoblastic fibroma in the groin of a 60-year-old woman. This unusual tumor showed a predominance of epithelial component, with abundant basophilic, well-circumscribed, epithelial lobules and some keratinous cysts. Several areas suggested stromal induction of differentiation, and in the keratinous cysts there were indications of outer hair sheath differentiation. We review the clinical data from published cases of trichogenic hair germ tumors and discuss the differential diagnosis.

Notes: Large cell acanthoma (LCA) is an epidermal neoplasm whose nature has been variously explained. Though frequently hyper-pigmented, we describe for the first time an achromic case located on the dorsum of the right hand of a 83-year-old woman. This observation is largely inconsistent with one of the theories about the nature of this condition: that it is merely a solar lentigo with large nuclei of keratinocytes.

Notes: Background  Imiquimod is an immune response modifier that acts through toll-like receptor 7 to induce cytokine production and a subsequent innate and adaptive cell-mediated immune response. Clinical studies have demonstrated clinical and histological clearance of superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC) after treatment with imiquimod 5% cream.Objectives  To evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of imiquimod (Aldara™; 3M Pharmaceuticals, St Paul, MN, U.S.A.) 5% cream for the treatment of sBCC in a multicentre, randomized, parallel, vehicle-controlled, double-blind, phase III clinical study conducted at 26 centres in Europe.Methods  Subjects who had at least one histologically confirmed sBCC tumour were randomized to apply imiquimod or vehicle cream to the target tumour once daily, seven times per week (7 ×/week) for 6 weeks. The target tumour location was identified with an indelible ink mark before treatment initiation. The treated tumour site was clinically assessed for treatment response at 12 weeks post-treatment and was then excised for histological evaluation. Efficacy assessments included the composite response rates (proportion of subjects with clinical and histological clearance) and response rates solely based on histology (proportion of subjects with histological clearance). Safety assessments, which included adverse events and scoring of local skin reactions (LSRs), were carried out throughout the study.Results  In total, 166 subjects were enrolled in this study. For the intent-to-treat dataset, there was a statistically significant difference between imiquimod and vehicle groups for both composite clearance rates (clinical and histological assessments) and histological clearance rates. Composite clearance was demonstrated in 77% and 6% of subjects treated with imiquimod and vehicle cream, respectively. Histological clearance was demonstrated in 80% and 6% of subjects treated with imiquimod and vehicle cream, respectively. The most frequently reported safety findings were investigator-assessed LSRs and spontaneous reports by subjects of application site reactions, which occurred more frequently in the imiquimod group than in the vehicle group.Conclusions  Imiquimod 5% cream administered 7 ×/week for 6 weeks is a safe and effective treatment for sBCC when compared with vehicle cream.