Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2024; 12(34): 6664-6668
Published online Dec 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i34.6664
Malignant melanoma: An important differential diagnosis for clear cell sarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract
Yan-Fei He
Yan-Fei He, Health Management Center, The Sixth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100048, China
Author contributions: He YF designed the study, collected the data, reviewed the literature, drafted and revised the manuscript, and have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan-Fei He, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Doctor, Health Management Center, The Sixth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 6 Fu Cheng Road, HaiDian District, Beijing 100048, China. heyanfeilc@163.com
Received: March 10, 2024
Revised: August 13, 2024
Accepted: August 23, 2024
Published online: December 6, 2024
Processing time: 215 Days and 17.2 Hours
Abstract

A case report by Liu et al describes the characteristics of metastatic clear cell sarcoma (CCS) of the pancreas and provides valuable therapeutic insights for this rare malignancy. This case is interesting because of its rarity, suggesting that the pancreas may be a potential target organ for CCS, either primary or metastatic. At the same time, the authors also emphasize the importance of regular postoperative follow-up for timely detection of recurrent lesions, as CCS is characterized by a high degree of malignancy and a high rate of recurrent metastases. Considering that CCS of the gastrointestinal tract is easily confused with malignant melanoma (MM) of the gastrointestinal tract, here we compare the clinical features, histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CCS and MM of the gastrointestinal tract, hoping to provide a reference for clinical work.

Keywords: Clear cell sarcoma; Malignant melanoma; Metastasis; Gastrointestinal tract; Differential diagnosis

Core Tip: The histological similarities and immunohistochemical overlap between clear cell sarcoma (CCS) and malignant melanoma (MM) pose a significant challenge to their diagnosis and differential diagnosis. This editorial comments on a case of metastatic CCS of the pancreas, compares in detail the histopathologic and immunohistochemical features of CCS and MM, and highlights the important role of molecular biological techniques in confirming the diagnosis of CCS and MM, providing invaluable information for the diagnosis, differentiation, and treatment of these two conditions.