{"id":295,"date":"2021-05-12T14:51:33","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T18:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=295"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T18:48:00","slug":"metastatic-cancer-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/chapter\/metastatic-cancer-melanoma\/","title":{"raw":"Histopathology of Melanoma","rendered":"Histopathology of Melanoma"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nAt the end of this section, you will be able to:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify common histopathological features of melanoma.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Determine whether the cancer is contained vs invading based on the basement membrane.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nBefore viewing these next videos on the histopathology of melanoma, please recall that:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Cancerous changes are seen histologically by nuclear changes.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Whether cancer is contained (i.e. localized) or invading depends on whether it has crossed the basement membrane.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Metastasis can be determined if the primary cancer is found in distant structures. Metastasis can't be diagnosed from the original site.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Critical Thinking &amp; Histopathology Exercises<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nAnswer the following questions for yourself before viewing the following videos.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Melanocytes are few in number compared to keratinocytes. What would melanoma look like on low power magnification?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Recall the cellular basis of cancer and what is happening at the DNA level. How would that look in nuclei stained with H&amp;E?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cancer is known for uncontrolled growth. What would you expect to be the size of the cell undergoing cancerous changes? What would make that cell be bigger? smaller?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cancerous tissues are known to be at different levels of differentiation. What would that look like when looking at thousands of cells on low magnification vs dozens of cells on high power magnification?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Whether a cancer spreads depends on whether it invades the basement membrane. What would that look like in low power magnification?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Histopathology of Melanoma- Smaller Magnification<\/h2>\r\n[h5p id=\"47\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup><strong>Malignant Melanoma (Low Power) - DHPLC eslide PATH 425-249<\/strong>\u00a0by Lyz Boyd, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\">All rights reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2>Histopathology of Melanoma - Greater Magnification<\/h2>\r\n[h5p id=\"48\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup><strong>Malignant Melanoma (High Power) - DHPLC eslide: PATH 425-249<\/strong> by Lyz Boyd, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\">All rights reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2>Section Review<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Melanoma is identifiable by an abnormal number and collection of melanocytes compared to its normal distribution among keratinocytes.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Common cancerous changes in melanocytes include:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Nuclei of different sizes with very little cytosol.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cells in different sizes and stages of differentiation and cellular division.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Melanoma is considered invasive if the abnormal growth of melanocytes has breached the basement membrane separating the epidermis and the dermis. Should these abnormal melanocytes be in close proximity to the blood vessels and lymphatics of the dermis &amp; hypodermis, metastasis can occur.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h1>Review Questions<\/h1>\r\n<div class=\"h5p\">[h5p id=\"108\"]<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"pdf\">\r\n\r\n<strong>1. What can cause an area of increased keratinization?<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Increased blood flow to the area<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Increased exposure to temperature (eg. sunshine)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Increased movement in the area (eg. moving an arm up\/down)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>2. Where should melanocytes sit?<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Basement membrane<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Stratum corneum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Stratum lucidim<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Stratum granulosum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Stratum spinosum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Dermis<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Hypodermis<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>3. The size of nuclei shrinks as the cell matures.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>True<\/li>\r\n \t<li>False<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n<h2>Answer Key<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Basement membrane<\/li>\r\n \t<li>True<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>At the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify common histopathological features of melanoma.<\/li>\n<li>Determine whether the cancer is contained vs invading based on the basement membrane.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Before viewing these next videos on the histopathology of melanoma, please recall that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cancerous changes are seen histologically by nuclear changes.<\/li>\n<li>Whether cancer is contained (i.e. localized) or invading depends on whether it has crossed the basement membrane.<\/li>\n<li>Metastasis can be determined if the primary cancer is found in distant structures. Metastasis can&#8217;t be diagnosed from the original site.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Critical Thinking &amp; Histopathology Exercises<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>Answer the following questions for yourself before viewing the following videos.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Melanocytes are few in number compared to keratinocytes. What would melanoma look like on low power magnification?<\/li>\n<li>Recall the cellular basis of cancer and what is happening at the DNA level. How would that look in nuclei stained with H&amp;E?<\/li>\n<li>Cancer is known for uncontrolled growth. What would you expect to be the size of the cell undergoing cancerous changes? What would make that cell be bigger? smaller?<\/li>\n<li>Cancerous tissues are known to be at different levels of differentiation. What would that look like when looking at thousands of cells on low magnification vs dozens of cells on high power magnification?<\/li>\n<li>Whether a cancer spreads depends on whether it invades the basement membrane. What would that look like in low power magnification?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Histopathology of Melanoma- Smaller Magnification<\/h2>\n<div id=\"h5p-47\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-47\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"47\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Melanoma histo 1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup><strong>Malignant Melanoma (Low Power) &#8211; DHPLC eslide PATH 425-249<\/strong>\u00a0by Lyz Boyd, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\">All rights reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<h2>Histopathology of Melanoma &#8211; Greater Magnification<\/h2>\n<div id=\"h5p-48\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-48\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"48\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"melanoma histo 2\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup><strong>Malignant Melanoma (High Power) &#8211; DHPLC eslide: PATH 425-249<\/strong> by Lyz Boyd, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\">All rights reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<h2>Section Review<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Melanoma is identifiable by an abnormal number and collection of melanocytes compared to its normal distribution among keratinocytes.<\/li>\n<li>Common cancerous changes in melanocytes include:\n<ul>\n<li>Nuclei of different sizes with very little cytosol.<\/li>\n<li>Cells in different sizes and stages of differentiation and cellular division.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Melanoma is considered invasive if the abnormal growth of melanocytes has breached the basement membrane separating the epidermis and the dermis. Should these abnormal melanocytes be in close proximity to the blood vessels and lymphatics of the dermis &amp; hypodermis, metastasis can occur.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Review Questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"h5p\">\n<div id=\"h5p-108\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-108\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"108\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Histopath of melanoma\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pdf\">\n<p><strong>1. What can cause an area of increased keratinization?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased blood flow to the area<\/li>\n<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\n<li>Increased exposure to temperature (eg. sunshine)<\/li>\n<li>Increased movement in the area (eg. moving an arm up\/down)<\/li>\n<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Where should melanocytes sit?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Basement membrane<\/li>\n<li>Stratum corneum<\/li>\n<li>Stratum lucidim<\/li>\n<li>Stratum granulosum<\/li>\n<li>Stratum spinosum<\/li>\n<li>Dermis<\/li>\n<li>Hypodermis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. The size of nuclei shrinks as the cell matures.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>True<\/li>\n<li>False<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<h2>Answer Key<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Inflammation due to something irritating the skin (e.g. frequent abrasion)<\/li>\n<li>Basement membrane<\/li>\n<li>True<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1232,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["lyz-boyd","jen-2"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[59,64],"license":[],"class_list":["post-295","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-jen-2","contributor-lyz-boyd"],"part":326,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1232"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9416,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/295\/revisions\/9416"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/326"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/295\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}