Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses and malignant blue nevus arising in prepubescent children. Report of two cases and review of the literature

Abstract

The low incidence of malignant melanoma in children makes the diagnosis of this disease problematic for clinicians and pathologists. The diagnosis becomes especially difficult when the melanoma is a rare variant of conventional melanoma, such as clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses (CCSTA), and malignant blue nevus (MBN). In this report we describe two prepubescent children, one with a MBN, and one with CCSTA. The patient with MBN also developed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and died of metastatic malignant melanoma within 1 year of diagnosis. We present the histological and clinical features of these cases and review the literature on these rare tumors arising in prepubescent children.