Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• OSELLA-ABATE, S
• SAVOIA, P
• QUAGLINO, P
• FIERRO, M. T
• LEPORATI, C
• ORTONCELLI, M
• BERNENGO, M. G

Titel

Tyrosinase expression in the peripheral blood of stage III melanoma patients is associated with a poor prognosis: a clinical follow-up study of 110 patients

Ist Teil von

• British journal of cancer, 2003-10, Vol.89 (8), p.1457-1462

Ort / Verlag

Basingstoke: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek - Frei zugängliche E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The aim of this study is to define the relationship between the tyrosinase expression in the peripheral blood and the clinical course of the disease in stage III disease-free melanoma patients after radical lymph node dissection. RT-PCR techniques were used to identify tyrosinase mRNA in 110 patients; a total of 542 blood samples were investigated. In all, 54 patients (49%) showed at least one positive result; 13 patients (11.8%) showed baseline positive results: six became negative thereafter, whereas seven showed follow-up positive results until disease progression occurred. One or more positive determinations were found during follow-up in 41 patients with negative baseline tyrosinase. No correlation was found between baseline results and the relapse rate or disease-free survival (DFS), whereas a significant correlation was found between positive tyrosinase results and disease recurrence during follow-up. In fact, 72.9% of positive patients relapsed, but only 19.3% of negative cases did so. The median interval between the positive results and the clinical demonstration of the relapse was 1.9 months (range 1-6.6). Disease-free survival multivariate analysis selected, as independent variables, Breslow thickness (P=0.05), lymph node involvement according to the AJCC classification (P=0.05) and tyrosinase expression (P=0.0001). In conclusion, RT-PCR tyrosinase mRNA expression is a reliable and reproducible marker associated with a high risk of melanoma progression and we encourage its clinical use in routine follow-up.