Primary cutaneous neuroendocrine tumor (atypical carcinoid) expressing KIT and PDGFRA with myoepithelial differentiation: a case report with immunohistochemical and molecular genetic studies.
Blockade of KIT and the downstream signaling cascade at various levels results in inhibition of Merkel cell carcinoma growth in vitro, suggesting targets for therapy of this cancer.
Because some Merkel cell carcinomas express the receptor tyrosine kinase KIT, we aimed to evaluate the correlation of KIT expression with the outcome and the presence of activating mutations in the KIT gene in Merkel cell carcinoma.
We found that only 53% of cases of Merkel cell carcinoma expressed KIT, which was mostly seen as diffuse weak staining, and SCF expression was observed only in 31% of cases.
We found that only 53% of cases of Merkel cell carcinoma expressed KIT, which was mostly seen as diffuse weak staining, and SCF expression was observed only in 31% of cases.