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Brain metastasis is an uncommon but increasing manifestation of ovarian epithelial carcinoma and neuropathologists' collective experience with these tumors is limited. We present clinicopathological characteristics of 13 cases of brain metastases from ovarian epithelial carcinoma diagnosed at two academic institutions. The mean ages at diagnosis of the ovarian carcinoma and their subsequent brain metastases were 58.7 and 62.8 years, respectively. At the time of initial diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma the majority of patients had an advanced stage and none had brain metastases as their first manifestation of malignancy. Brain metastases tended to be multiple with ring-enhancing features on neuroimaging. Primary tumors and their brain metastases were all high-grade histologically and the histologic subtypes were: nine high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) cases, two clear cell carcinoma (CCC) cases and a single case each of carcinosarcoma and high-grade adenocarcinoma. A recommended histo- and immunopathological approach to these tumours are provided to aid neuropathologists in the recognition and classification of metastatic ovarian carcinoma to the brain.

Chordoid meningioma (CM) is a rare subtype of meningioma, classified as grade II, which exhibits a high rate of recurrence following subtotal resection. We retrospectively examined nine cases of chordoid meningioma over a case series of 1743 meningiomas (0.52%) operated upon at our institution from 1995 to 2013. All the reported clinicopathological findings were analyzed. Two hundred and twenty-one CM cases have been published to date worldwide and few single-center large case series have been issued. Seventy-five percent of the cases that underwent subtotal resection at our institution had recurrence within 1 year. Total resection of the tumor should be the major objective of surgery to reduce the possibility of tumor recurrence. The percentage of chordoid features within the tumor specimen could assist in predicting the pathogenesis of the lesion. The correlation of the index of proliferation to recurrence rate is still controversial. Much debate exists with regard to the role of adjuvant radiotherapy in CM cases. Immunohistochemical, cytological and ultrastructural studies should be used in combination to assure a correct diagnosis of CM. Owing to the rare occurrence of this meningioma subtype, larger case series are required to assist in providing a reference for diagnosis and to improve the therapeutic management of CM.

Background: Sry-related HMG-BOX gene 10 (SOX10), a nuclear transcription factor that plays an important role in schwannian and melanocytic cell differentiation, has recently been shown to be a useful marker in the diagnosis of melanocytic and schwannian tumors. Fibroblasts and histiocytes that could histopathologically mimic melanoma cells often express S100, which complicates the evaluation of melanoma excision specimens for residual tumor. Distinguishing melanoma cells from immature fibrocytes or histiocytes is made more challenging in desmoplastic melanoma excision specimens. Methods: We compared the utility of melanoma markers [SOX10, S100, HMB-45, Melan-A and micropthalmia transcription factor (MiTF)] in 3 invasive, 9 desmoplastic and 14 intraepidermal melanomas. We also evaluated 18 excision scars. The staining intensity for all the cellular components in melanoma and scar specimens was scored. Results: SOX10 strongly highlighted all in situ, invasive and desmoplastic melanomas. In contrast, MiTF expression was weak to absent in desmoplastic melanomas. In scars, S100 highlighted background spindled fibrocytes and histiocytes with greater intensity than SOX10. MiTF highlighted multi-nucleated histiocytes, while SOX10 did not. Conclusion: Our results showed that SOX10 was strongly expressed by desmoplastic melanoma. Furthermore, SOX10 was less likely than S100 and MiTF to be expressed by background fibrocytes and histiocytes within scars. Ramos-Herberth FI, Karamchandani J, Kim J, Dadras SS. SOX10 immunostaining distinguishes desmoplastic melanoma from excision scar.