Mesenchymal and neuronal tumors

Abstract

Mesenchymal and neuronal neoplasms are often difficult to identify clinically. Color, location, and palpation findings of the lesion are helpful for differential diagnosis. According to the anatomical localization of mesenchymal structures, a distinction is made between neoplasms of connective tissue and fatty tissue, smooth and striated musculature, cartilage tissue and bone tissue, as well as of the peripheral nervous system. A representative tissue sample with dermatohistopathological examination is often indispensable for the precise classification of these lesions. Numerous immunohistochemical markers have proven their worth in this context. With the introduction of molecular biology, fluorescence-in-situ hybridization and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions have also become diagnostic tools for many entities. In addition, in a number of malignant neoplasms, chromosomal aberrations have prognostic and therapeutic relevance.