The ribosome-lamellar complex; is it a normal structure?

Ribosome-lamellar complexes were seen in mast cells in the iris of a patient with Usher's syndrome (retinitis pigmentosa associated with deafness) and in the neoplastic cells of an alveolar soft part sarcoma of the thigh. These 'organelles', originally described and associated with haematopoietic malignancy, where they have been described as the hallmark, are being increasingly often described in neoplastic and nonneoplastic cells. We believe that their usefulness in diagnosis should be questioned and the concept of their association with malignancy abandoned.