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A Case of Acral Lentginous Melanoma: The Correlation between CD95L Expression on Melanoma Cells and Apoptosis of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes
Author(s) -
Maeda Akira,
Aragane Yoshinori,
Kawada Akira,
Isogai Rieko,
Orita Tomoaki,
Tezuka Tadashi
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2001.tb00019.x
Subject(s) - melanoma , apoptosis , tunel assay , immunostaining , immune system , biology , cancer research , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , immunohistochemistry , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , breslow thickness , immunotherapy , pathology , medicine , immunology , in vitro , cancer , sentinel lymph node , biochemistry , genetics , breast cancer
There is an increasing amount of evidence that melanoma cells express the ligand for CD95 (CD95L), a potent inducer of apoptosis, which contributes to creating the immune privileged circumstances of tumor sites. However, it still remains to be demonstrated whether the capacity of melanoma cells to express CD95L is acquired during the progression. We addressed this question with a case of acral lentiginous melanoma by employing immunostaining using an antibody directed against CD95L as well as by in situ TUNEL staining. H&E‐staining of tumor specimens revealed that there were two different growth patterns. The central part of the tumor showed a deeper invasion into the dermis (Breslow thickness>4‐mm). The horizontally growing edge of the tumor proliferated more superficially (Breslow thickness<3‐mm). Relatively fewer lymphocytes were observed around the melanoma nests in central areas, which expressed detectable amounts of CD95L. In contrast, more lymphocytes were observed among the melanoma cells in the peripheral lesion, where CD95L was not detected. To evaluate the relevance of the CD95L expression, in situ TUNEL staining was performed. This indicated a significant correlation of lymphocyte apoptosis with CD95L expression on melanoma cells. Together, the data suggest that expression of CD95L is turned on depending on the level of melanoma, and that it may contribute to creating immune privileged circumstances by initiating apoptosis of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes.