Sophie Spitz

Biography

• Born 4 February 1910 in Nashville, Tennessee
• 1929 – BA, Vanderbilt University
• 1932 – MD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• 1942 – Married fellow pathologist Arthur Allen (1910-1994) with whom she authored several publications
• 1942-1945 Joined the Army Institute of Pathology
• Pathologist at Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases in New York City
• Director of the pathology department, New York Infirmary
• Died 11 August 1956 from colon cancer

Medical Eponyms

Spitz nevus (1948)

Rare benign melanocytic lesion, that shares significant clinical and histological features of melanoma. [aka *juvenile melanoma; spindle and epithelioid cell naevus; Spitz naevus; ]

In 1948, Spitz published Melanomas of childhood, in the American Journal of Pathology. The paper challenged prevailing concepts concerning the pathology of nevi and melanomas. Spitz’s study reviewed lesions that were histologically diagnosed as malignant melanoma in children which had morphologic features distinctive from those occurring in adults. Spitz described histologic characteristics of the lesions she termed juvenile melanomas including:

1. Epidermal changes such as parakeratosis and acanthosis 
2. Presence of large acidophilic pigmented cells containing vesicular nuclei or spindle cells in the spindle cell type 
3. Presence of giant cells either multinuclear or mononuclear, with oval or round acidophilic cytoplasm 
4. Occasional mitotic figures 
5. Pigment mainly located in the superficial part of the lesion 
6. Inflammatory changes 
7. Edema 
8. Vascular ectasia in the papillary dermis 

Spitz specifically highlighted that the presence of giant cells as the only feature that permitted a histologic distinction from adult melanoma:

The juvenile melanoma may be distinguished histologically from adult melanoma in about one-half the cases by the presence of giant cells in the former which seldom occur in the latter.

Spitz 1948

In 1967, the Pathology Committee of the Queensland Melanoma Project, chaired by Vincent J. McGovern, published a standardized nomenclature and classification for
moles and malignant melanomas in which it recommended the use of the name “Spitz naevus,” instead of juvenile melanoma.

Key Medical Contributions

Spitz was a strong proponent of the new cervical screening test devised by Dr. George Papanicolaou, at a time the medical community rejected his work. Dr. Spitz maintained a strong interest in the prevention of cervical cancer throughout her professional life. She wrote papers in Cancer on the carcinogenic action of benzidine and on the histopathologic effects of nitrogen mustards. The article on benzidine was the first to prove the carcinogenic potential of aromatic amines used in the dye industry, now a well-recognized cause of human bladder cancer.

Major Publications

• Ash JE, Spitz S. Pathology of tropical diseases: an atlas. 1945
• Allen AC, Spitz S. A Comparative Study of the Pathology of Scrub Typhus (Tsutsugamushi Disease) and Other Rickettsial Diseases. Am J Pathol. 1945;21(4):603-681.
• Spitz S. The pathology of acute falciparum malaria. Mil Surg. 1946;99(5):555-572.
• Spitz S. Melanomas of childhood. Am J Pathol. 1948;24(3):591-609. [Spitz nevus]
• Spitz S. The histological effects of nitrogen mustards on human tumors and tissues. Cancer. 1948;1(3):383-398.
• Louthlin EH, Spitz SH. Diagnosis of helminthiasis. J Am Med Assoc. 1949;139(15):997-1000.
• Spitz S, Maguigan WH, Dobriner K. The carcinogenic action of benzidine. Cancer. 1950;3(5):789-804
• Spitz S. Cutaneous tumors of childhood. Disparity between clinical behavior and histologic appearance. J Am Med Womens Assoc. 1951;6(6):209-219.
• Allen AC, Spitz S. Malignant melanoma; a clinicopathological analysis of the criteria for diagnosis and prognosis. Cancer. 1953;6(1):1-45.
• Allen AC, Spitz S. Histogenesis and clinicopathologic correlation of nevi and malignant melanomas; current status. AMA Arch Derm Syphilol. 1954;69(2):150-171

References

Biography

• Ash CJE. Sophie Spitz—An Appreciation 1910–1956. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 1958; 30(6): 553–554
• Shapiro PE. Who was Sophie Spitz? The woman behind the eponym. Am J Dermatopathol. 1992;14(5):442-446.
• Bader E, Shipman AR. The women behind the names: Dermatology eponyms named after women. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2015;1(3):157-160.
• Spitz K, Piliang M, Mostow E. Sophie Spitz: A woman ahead of her time. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2019;5(3):190-191.
• Bibliography. Spitz, Sophie 1910-1956. WorldCat Identities

Eponymous terms

• Moles and malignant melanoma: terminology and CLASSIFICATION. Med J Aust. 1967;1(3):123-125.
• Allen AC. Introduction to “Melanomas of Childhood” by Spitz. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 1991; 41(1), 37–39.
• Shimek CM, Golitz LE. The golden anniversary of the Spitz nevus. Arch Dermatol. 1999;135(3):333-335.
• Spatz A, Barnhill RL. The Spitz tumor 50 years later: revisiting a landmark contribution and unresolved controversy. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1999;40(2 Pt 1):223-228
• Crotty KA. Spitz naevus: histological features and distinction from malignant melanoma. Australas J Dermatol. 1997;38 Suppl 1:S49-S53