Fine-needle aspiration of soft tissue myoepithelioma

Diagn Cytopathol. 2016 Feb;44(2):152-5. doi: 10.1002/dc.23399. Epub 2015 Dec 8.

Abstract

Soft tissue myoepithelioma is a rare neoplasm composed of myoepithelial cells. We describe the cytologic features of a soft tissue myoepithelioma arising in the right lower chest wall in a 65-year-old woman. The fine-needle aspiration (FNA) smears showed round to oval, spindle, epithelioid, and plasmacytoid cells in the myxoid background. The nuclei were uniform, round to ovoid, with finely distributed chromatin and eosinophilic or pale cytoplasm, and resembled lobular carcinoma of breast. Ultrasound guided core biopsy showed the tumor cells had bland cytologic features, arranged in small cords, nests, and dissociated single cells, with no glandular differentiation or breast tissue seen. The tumor cells demonstrated immunoreactivity for cytokeratin (AE1/AE3) and glial fibrillary acidic protein, but were negative for estrogen receptor. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated the EWSR1 rearrangement, confirming the diagnosis of myoepithelioma.

Keywords: cytology; fine-needle aspiration; lobular carcinoma; myoepithelioma; soft tissue.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biopsy, Fine-Needle
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Myoepithelioma / diagnostic imaging
  • Myoepithelioma / pathology*
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / pathology*