Cultural characteristics of three granular-cell myoblastomas

I r IS tlie puipose of this work to give an x c o u n t of three granular-cell myoblastornas cultivated i n vitro.T w o of these tumors arose In the female breast, the third in the vastus lateralis muscle.All three appear to be benign, and all are of the type designated by Murphy et al. as "unifoim."T h e third has organoid characteristics.Since Abrikossoff's desci iption, in 1926, of fire tumors to which he gabe the name "myo-I h s t i c rnyoma," the diagnostic criteria ot this tumor entity, its occurrence, and tlie problems of its cellular oiigin and relationships have clicited a Lonsiclerable literature and numerous reviews.18T h e present paper will not attempt to review oi recapitulate this discussion as a whole but will confine itselt mainly to a report of the characteristics exhibited by the granular-cell myoblastoma when cultivated in vitro, and their possible significance to the problem of its histogenesis.T h e two tumors from the female breast that we have grown in ~i t r o were described by Haagensen and Stout (as their cases 3 and 4).T h e case histories and descriptions will not be repeated here, but sections of these tumors are shown as our Figs. 1 and 2. Follow-up on these cases finds the patients without recurrence at respectively six and five years after operation.I n the one new case reported here, S.M (unit no.643,524), a 30-year-old American-born Jewess was admitted to the Presbyterian Hospital in September, 1947, with a painless lump 01 one-year's duration in the left thigh.A tumor weighing 85 gm. and measuring 7 ~5 ~2 .5 cm.was found lying in, and closely bound to, the surrounding muscle tissue of the vastus lateralis.It was removed by block excision.T h e tumor nodule was poorly circumscribed, firm in texture, but easily cut; the cut Case 3.