Abstract
Neurocristopathies arise from abnormal migration, differentiation, or proliferation of neural crest derivatives, leading to diverse clinical and pathological features. They are classified into dysgenetic or neoplastic, and can affect single or multiple sites (simple versus complex). Examples include congenital melanocytic nevi, neuroblastoma, Hirshsprung’s disease, Waardenburg’s syndrome, neurofibromatosis (NF) 1 and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 2A and 2B. We report two cases of peripheral nerve sheath tumors associated with vitiligo and discuss the possible implicated embryologic, genetic and molecular mechanisms. To our knowledge, we also report the first case of de novo malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) associated with vitiligo.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adameyko I, Lallemend F, Aquino JB, Pereira JA, Topilko P, Muller T, Fritz N, Beljajeva A, Mochii M, Liste I, Usoskin D, Suter U, Birchmeier C, Ernfors P (2009) Schwann cell precursors from nerve innervation are a cellular origin of melanocytes in skin. Cell 139:366–379
Alkhateeb A, Stetler GL, Old W, Talbert J, Uhlhorn C, Taylor M, Fox A, Miller C, Dills DG, Ridgway EC, Bennett DC, Fain PR, Spritz RA (2002) Mapping of an autoimmunity susceptibility locus (AIS1) to chromosome 1p31.3-p32.2. Hum Mol Genet 11:661–667
Bagherani N (2012) The newest hypothesis about vitiligo: most of the suggested pathogeneses of vitiligo can be attributed to lack of one factor, zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein. ISRN Dermatol 2012:405268
Bolande RP (1997) Neurocristopathy: its growth and development in 20 years. Pediatr Pathol Lab Med 17:1–25
Brosius SN, Turk AN, Byer SJ, Brossier NM, Kohli L, Whitmire A, Mikhail FM, Roth KA, Carroll SL (2014) Neuregulin-1 overexpression and Trp53 haploinsufficiency cooperatively promote de novo malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor pathogenesis. Acta Neuropathol 127:573–591
Chance A, Liu JJ, Raskin JS, Zherebitskiy V, Gultekin SH, Raslan AM (2015) Thoracic primary central nervous system melanoma and lumbar schwannoma of complex neurocristopathy: case report. J Neurosurg Spine 1–4
Dupin E (2011) Phenotypic plasticity of neural crest-derived melanocytes and Schwann cells. Biol Aujourdhui 205:53–61
Ernfors P (2010) Cellular origin and developmental mechanisms during the formation of skin melanocytes. Exp Cell Res 316:1397–1407
Evans DG, Baser ME, McGaughran J, Sharif S, Howard E, Moran A (2002) Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours in neurofibromatosis 1. J Med Genet 39:311–314
Fleck D, Garratt AN, Haass C, Willem M (2012) BACE1 dependent neuregulin processing: review. Curr Alzheim Res 9:178–183
Garratt AN, Britsch S, Birchmeier C (2000) Neuregulin, a factor with many functions in the life of a schwann cell. Bioessays 22:987–996
Hassan MI, Waheed A, Yadav S, Singh TP, Ahmad F (2008) Zinc alpha 2-glycoprotein: a multidisciplinary protein. Mol Cancer Res 6:892–906
He N, Brysk H, Tyring SK, Ohkubo I, Brysk MM (2001) Zinc-alpha(2)-glycoprotein hinders cell proliferation and reduces cdc2 expression. J Cell Biochem Suppl Suppl 36:162–169
Hendrix S, Peters EM (2007) Neuronal plasticity and neuroregeneration in the skin—the role of inflammation. J Neuroimmunol 184:113–126
Ikeda T, Hashimoto S, Fukushige S, Ohmori H, Horii A (2005) Comparative genomic hybridization and mutation analyses of sporadic schwannomas. J Neurooncol 72:225–230
Jang HS, Kim MR, Hann SK, Oh SH (2013) Segmental vitiligo and facial palsy associated with a concurrent ipsilateral acoustic schwannoma. J Dermatol 40:291–292
Kaucka M, Adameyko I (2014) Non-canonical functions of the peripheral nerve. Exp Cell Res 321:17–24
Kitlinska J (2007) Neuropeptide Y in neural crest-derived tumors: effect on growth and vascularization. Cancer Lett 245:293–302
Kobayashi C, Oda Y, Takahira T, Izumi T, Kawaguchi K, Yamamoto H, Tamiya S, Yamada T, Oda S, Tanaka K, Matsuda S, Iwamoto Y, Tsuneyoshi M (2006) Chromosomal aberrations and microsatellite instability of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors: a study of 10 tumors from nine patients. Cancer Genet Cytogenet 165:98–105
Koplon BS, Shapiro L (1968) Poliosis overlying a neurofibroma. Arch Dermatol 98:631–633
Kwon IH, Cho YJ, Lee SH, Lee JH, Cho KH, Kim JA, Moon SE (2005) Poliosis circumscripta associated with neurofibroma. J Dermatol 32:446–449
Liu PY, Bondesson L, Lontz W, Johansson O (1996) The occurrence of cutaneous nerve endings and neuropeptides in vitiligo vulgaris: a case–control study. Arch Dermatol Res 288:670–675
Nanda A (2008) Autoimmune diseases associated with neurofibromatosis type 1. Pediatr Dermatol 25:392–393
Okan G, Muhammedrezai S, Ince U (2010) Coexistence of granular cell tumor and schwannoma in a patient with vitiligo. South Med J 103:490–491
Otten U, Ehrhard P, Peck R (1989) Nerve growth factor induces growth and differentiation of human B lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 86:10059–10063
Poyhonen M, Niemela S, Herva R (1997) Risk of malignancy and death in neurofibromatosis. Arch Pathol Lab Med 121:139–143
Schmidt H, Wurl P, Taubert H, Meye A, Bache M, Holzhausen HJ, Hinze R (1999) Genomic imbalances of 7p and 17q in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors are clinically relevant. Gene Chromosome Cancer 25:205–211
Singh A, Kornmehl H, Milgraum S (2010) Segmental vitiligo following encephalitis. Pediatr Dermatol 27:624–625
Spritz RA, Gowan K, Bennett DC, Fain PR (2004) Novel vitiligo susceptibility loci on chromosomes 7 (AIS2) and 8 (AIS3), confirmation of SLEV1 on chromosome 17, and their roles in an autoimmune diathesis. Am J Hum Genet 74:188–191
Stonecypher MS, Byer SJ, Grizzle WE, Carroll SL (2005) Activation of the neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling pathway promotes the proliferation of neoplastic Schwann cells in human malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Oncogene 24:5589–5605
Stonecypher MS, Chaudhury AR, Byer SJ, Carroll SL (2006) Neuregulin growth factors and their ErbB receptors form a potential signaling network for schwannoma tumorigenesis. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 65:162–175
van Geel N, Mollet I, Brochez L, Dutre M, De Schepper S, Verhaeghe E, Lambert J, Speeckaert R (2012) New insights in segmental vitiligo: case report and review of theories. Br J Dermatol 166:240–246
Woodruff JM (1996) Pathology of the major peripheral nerve sheath neoplasms. Monogr Pathol 38:129–161
Yalcin B, Tamer E, Gur G, Oztas P, Polat MU, Alli N (2006) Neurofibromatosis 1/Noonan syndrome associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and vitiligo. Acta Derm Venereol 86:80–81
Yu R, Huang Y, Zhang X, Zhou Y (2012) Potential role of neurogenic inflammatory factors in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. J Cutan Med Surg 16:230–244
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Conflict of interest
None.
Patient consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Funding
No funding was received for this research
Additional information
Comments
This article describes two clinical cases in which vitiligo and a peripheral nerve tumor co-exist; in one case, a malignant peripheral nerve tumor. Malancoytes and Schwann cells are known to share a common embryological pathway involving neural crest cells. That in itself is not terribly compelling or interesting since all cells ultimately arise from a single fertilized cell. However, the authors propose several potential embryological and molecular pathway explanations for how these two condition might result and be related. Although there is no definite cause and effect evidence presented, the discussion is in-depth and very imaginative and I think warrants publication of this paper so that future work may build upon its suggestions.
Michel Kliot
IL, USA
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elsherif, M.A., Spinner, R.J. & Miest, R.Y. The coexistence of peripheral nerve sheath tumors and vitiligo: more than coincidence?. Acta Neurochir 158, 95–99 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-015-2629-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-015-2629-8