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High expression of FOXP 3 in primary melanoma is associated with tumour progression
Author(s) -
Gerber A.L.,
Münst A.,
Schlapbach C.,
Shafighi M.,
Kiermeir D.,
Hüsler R.,
Hunger R.E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/bjd.12641
Subject(s) - melanoma , langerin , foxp3 , breslow thickness , immunohistochemistry , medicine , oncology , immune system , cancer research , pathology , immunology , cancer , dendritic cell , sentinel lymph node , breast cancer
Summary Background The antitumour immune response plays an important role in the prognosis of melanoma. High numbers of circulating regulatory T cells have been associated with rapid disease progression. Objectives To assess the influence of forkhead box protein ( FOXP )3, CD 1a and langerin expression on the prognosis of primary melanoma. Methods We analysed 185 primary melanomas by immunohistochemical staining for expression of the regulatory T‐cell marker FOXP 3 and the dendritic cell markers langerin and CD 1a, and correlated marker expression with clinical outcome. Results Disease‐free survival and overall survival were significantly longer in patients expressing low levels of FOXP 3 in the primary melanoma, whereas they were associated with high expression of CD 1a. The negative prognostic value of FOXP 3 expression was independent of the Breslow tumour thickness. Langerin expression did not correlate with the clinical outcome. Conclusions High expression of FOXP 3 in the primary melanoma may be used as an additional independent prognostic marker for early tumour progression in patients with melanoma.