Pathology Outlines

Stains
Desmin

Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.

Topic Completed: 1 March 2012

Revised: 1 March 2019

Copyright: 2002-2018, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Desmin [title] stain

Page views in 2018: 12,244

Page views in 2019 to date: 9,089

Table of Contents

Cite this page: Pernick N. Desmin. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stainsdesmin.html. Accessed August 21st, 2019.

Definition / general

53 kDa intermediate filament first described in 1976 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1976;73:4344), present near the Z line in sarcomeres, present in cardiac, smooth and striated muscle (Wikipedia)
Expressed before actin in myoblasts
Variable expression in myofibroblasts

Uses by pathologists

Common stain used in panels for mesenchymal markers
Confirms myogenic origin of tissue / tumors
Helps differentiate smooth muscle tumors (desmin+) from GIST (c-kit+, almost always desmin-)
In serous effusion, more common in reactive mesothelial cells (84%) than mesothelioma (8%) or carcinoma (2%, Am J Surg Pathol 2001;25:1405)

Diagrams / tables

Images hosted on other servers:

Molecular architecture

Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on PathOut server:

Hear, leiomyosarcoma

Heart, rhabdomyosarcoma

Kidney, angiomyolipoma

Nasal cavity, angioleiomyoma

Pancreas, desmoplastic small RCT

Soft tissue, embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, cross striations (L), rhabdoid cells (M), spindle cells (R)

Testis, spindle cell variant

Thyroid, rhabdomyoma

Vulva, aggressive angiomyxoma

Images hosted on Other servers:

Adrenal gland

Breast, spindle cell lipoma

Heart, rhabdomyosarcoma

Hepatorenal
embryonal
rhabdomyosarcoma

Kidney, leiomyosarcoma

Kidney, mixed epithelial stromal tumor

Skin, angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma

Small bowel

Positive staining - normal

Cervix: decidual reaction, endometrium (focal), fallopian tube stroma
Liver: stellate cells
Mesothelial cells (reactive), myoblasts, myofibroblasts (variable), myometrium, smooth muscle cells

Positive staining - disease

Adenosarcoma (cervix, prostate, stomach), aggressive angiomyxoma, alveolar soft parts sarcoma (cervix)
Anaplastic sarcoma, kidney (usually), angioleiomyoma (Hum Pathol 2007;38:645)
Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (Mod Pathol 2011;24:1560), angiomyofibroblastoma, angiomyolipoma (smooth muscle cells)
Atypical fibroxanthoma of skin (30%), atypical polypoid adenomyoma of uterus (variable)
Benign stromal spindle cell tumors (breast)
Chondrosarcoma, dedifferentiated
Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (dot-like perinuclear pattern)
Endometrial stromal sarcoma (50%), endometriosis (associated with desmin+ skeletal muscle regeneration, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:10), epithelioid sarcoma (proximal type has variable staining)
Fibroblastic reticulum cell tumor, fibroepithelial polyp, fibromatosis (usually negative, but may be focal), fibrous hamartoma of infancy (spindle cell areas), fibrous histiocytoma of skin, variable
Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath-localized type, granulosa cell tumor (variable)
Hemangiopericytoma (20% in CNS)
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (variable, Hum Pathol 2008;39:846, epithelioid tumors are usually positive, Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:135), ischemic fasciitis
Leiomyoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2001;25:455) and leiomyosarcoma (staining associated with more differentiated tumors, Hum Pathol 2010;41:663)
Low grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (variable), lymphangioleiomyomatosis, lymphangiomyoma
Malignant fibrous histiocytoma, malignant mixed Müllerian tumor (cervix-sarcomatous component), medullomyoblastoma, mesenchymal hamartoma
Mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of kidney (stroma), mycobacterial spindle cell pseudotumor in lymph nodes
Myofibroblastoma (variable, Hum Pathol 2012;43:243), myofibrosarcoma, myogenic sarcoma, myoid gonadal stromal tumor (Hum Pathol 2012;43:144)
Neuroblastoma, neuromuscular hamartoma of soft tissue
Ossifying fibromyxoid tumor (38%, Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:1615), osteosarcoma (variable)
Paratesticular fibrous pseudotumor (31%, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:569), perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (sclerosing PEComa has diffuse staining, abdominopelvic sarcoma and tumors of falciform ligament / ligamentum teres are negative, other sites are predominantly negative)
Phyllodes tumor of breast (stroma), PNET (variable), prostatic stromal hyperplasia with atypia (moderate staining, Arch Pathol Lab Med 2008;132:1729)
Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) of breast (variable), pseudosarcomatous fibroepithelial stromal polyp (cervix, vagina)
Reactive nodular fibrous pseudotumor (variable), rhabdomyoma, rhabdomyosarcoma (in more differentiated cells)
Sclerosing stromal tumor (ovary), smooth muscle tumor of pleura, spindle cell carcinoma (variable)
Spindle cell epithelioma of vagina, stromal sarcoma of prostate (variable), superficial cervicovaginal myofibroblastoma
Uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumor (Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:1749)

Negative staining

Angiofibroma (positive in 11%, Am J Surg Pathol 2012;36:500)
Calcifying fibrous tumor (Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:271), carcinomas (usually), chondromyxoid fibroma, chondrosarcoma, mesenchymal
Choriocarcinoma, clear cell sarcoma
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, desmoplastic fibroblastoma
Ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumor, elastofibroma
Fibroma, fibrosarcoma, follicular dendritic cell sarcoma
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (epithelioid tumors may have focal staining), GANT
Giant cell fibroblastoma, glomus coccygeum, granular cell tumor
Hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion
Inflammatory fibroid polyp, interdigitating dendritic cell tumor, intranodal palisaded myofibroblastoma
Histiocytic sarcoma
Lipoma (pleomorphic, spindle cell), liposarcoma (but dedifferentiated tumors may be desmin+, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:844), lipomatous hemangiopericytoma
Low grade fibromyxoid sarcoma, lymphoma
Mesothelioma (Mod Pathol 2012;25:689), metanephric adenoma / adenofibroma of kidney
Myoepithelioma, myofibroma, myopericytoma (rarely focal staining, Am J Surg Pathol 2009;33:1666), mxyoma
Neural tumors (chordoid glioma, neuroblastoma, neurofibroma, perineurioma, schwannoma)
Nodular fasciitis, nuchal fibrocartilaginous pseudotumor, nuchal type fibroma
Osteosarcoma
Pancreatic serous cystadenoma, pigmented villonodular synovitis, plexiform fibromyxoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2009;33:1624)
Postoperative spindle cell nodule (bladder), proliferative fasciitis / myositis, pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma (Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:190), pseudosarcomatous fibromyxoid tumor of prostate
Rhabdoid tumor of heart
Sialadenoma papilliferum, solitary fibrous tumor
Superficial acral fibromyxoma / digital fibromyxoma (rare focal staining, Am J Surg Pathol 2012;36:789), synovial sarcoma
Vascular tumors (angiosarcoma, glomangioma, glomus tumor, hemangiopericytoma outside CNS, Kaposi's sarcoma)
Warthin tumor