Indeterminate cell tumor of the spleen

Mingyi Chen, Renuka Agrawal, Niloofar Nasseri-Nik, Andrew Sloman, Lawrence M. Weiss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Indeterminate cell tumor is an extremely rare neoplasm that mainly occurs in the skin. We report a case of indeterminate cell tumor arising from the spleen, a previously unreported site for indeterminate cell tumor. Histologically, the tumor showed nests, nodules, and sheets of large polygonal cells with mostly oval nuclei; open chromatin; variable nucleoli; and abundant, eosinophilic cytoplasm. Some cells possessed irregularly convoluted nuclei with nuclear grooves and granular cytoplasm, suggestive of Langerhans cells. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were diffusely positive for S-100 and CD1a and negative for Langerin. No Birbeck granules were found by electron microscopy. Clinical and radiologic examination showed no other organomegaly or lymphadenopathy. A diagnosis of primary indeterminate cell tumor of the spleen was rendered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first indeterminate cell tumor reported in the spleen. Biologic insights into dendritic cells in the spleen and the pertinent literature on these entities are reviewed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)307-311
Number of pages5
JournalHuman Pathology
Volume43
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2012

Keywords

  • Birbeck granules
  • Dendritic cells
  • Indeterminate cell tumor
  • Langerhans cells
  • Spleen

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine

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