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Tenascin‐C in primary malignant melanoma of the skin
Author(s) -
Ilmonen S,
Jahkola T,
Turunen J P,
Muhonen T,
AskoSeljavaara S
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2004.01976.x
Subject(s) - melanoma , immunohistochemistry , medicine , pathology , tenascin c , stromal cell , breslow thickness , biopsy , cancer , cancer research , sentinel lymph node , breast cancer
Aims : To investigate the expression and the prognostic role of glycoprotein Tenascin‐C (Tn‐C) in primary melanoma of the skin. Methods and results : The immunohistochemical expression of Tn‐C was studied in 98 primary melanomas and related to inflammation, invasion, and patient outcome. Patients were followed up for disease recurrence for 0.04–7.4 years (median 3.9) and for survival for 0.5 to 12.1 years (median 9.3). The expression of Tn‐C was evaluated for each tumour invasion border; the stromal and intracytoplasmic Tn‐C of the melanoma islets were also recorded. Tn‐C is widely expressed in primary melanoma samples, the staining pattern varying from focal to diffuse in different parts of the tumour. No correlation existed between intensity of Tn‐C staining and inflammation. No stromal Tn‐C was detected at the upper dermal lateral border in 12 patients, nor at the deep, dermal or subcutaneous border in 14 patients. These patients showed better disease‐free survival (DFS) than did those cases with focal or diffuse staining ( P = 0.06, P = 0.05). Also, absence of intracytoplasmic Tn‐C was a beneficial prognostic factor for DFS ( P = 0.04). In multivariate analysis, tumour ulceration and intracytoplasmic Tn‐C expression of melanoma cells were independent adverse prognostic factors for DFS. Conclusions : In primary melanoma of the skin, absence of Tn‐C in the stroma of invasion fronts and within tumour cells seems to be related to a more benign disease behaviour with a lower risk of developing metastases.