Pigmented epidermotropic ductal carcinoma of the breast in a male. Ultrastructural evidence of melanocytic colonization and melanin transfer to the tumor.

The first case of pigmented epidermotropic breast carcinoma in a male, presenting as a pigmented lesion of the areola and nipple, is described. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies demonstrated that the pigmentation was found to be primarily due to colonization of tumor nests by melanocytes, with numerous melanophages interspersed in the desmoplastic stroma and only occasional compound melanosomes within the epithelial tumor cells.