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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jcp.2005.034538v1 59/7/699    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bauer, R Articles by Bosserhoff, A K Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bauer, R Articles by Bosserhoff, A K Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Melanoma Moles Skin Cancer

Prognostic relevance of P-cadherin expression in melanocytic skin tumours analysed by high-throughput tissue microarrays

¹ Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
² Department of Dermatology, University of Regensburg
³ Central Tumor Registry, Regensburg

Correspondence to:
Anja K Bosserhoff
Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany; anja.bosserhoff{at}klinik.uni-regensburg.de Aim: To investigate whether protein expression or cellular localisation of P-cadherin is associated with clinicopathological characteristics in benign and malignant melanocytic skin tumours.

Experimental design: P-cadherin expression and the Ki-67 labelling index were analysed immunohistochemically by using tissue microarrays (TMAs). Membranous and cytoplasmic expression was scored semiquantitatively (0 to 2+).

Results: P-cadherin protein expression of any intensity (1+ to 2+) was detected in the membrane in 41.5% (132/318) and in the cytoplasm in 64.2% (204/318) of patients. In general, P-cadherin expression was significantly reduced in malignant melanomas (p<0.001) and melanoma metastases (p<0.001), compared with benign nevi. Additionally, loss of membranous P-cadherin was associated with Clark level (p = 0.011) and tumour thickness (p<0.001). Interestingly, a significantly lower P-cadherin expression was shown by dermal nevi than by compound and junctional nevi (p = 0.005; p = 0.025). In primary melanomas, a Ki-67 labelling index <5% was not associated with P-cadherin protein expression, suggesting that loss of P-cadherin expression was not associated with proliferation. None of the other clinical and histological factors analysed was significantly related to P-cadherin expression. Low cytoplasmic P-cadherin expression was associated with tumour recurrence (p = 0.03) in all the patients who were analysed. After testing various multivariate Cox regression models, loss of cytoplasmic P-cadherin expression remained a highly significant adverse risk factor for tumour recurrence in patients with tumours <2 mm.

Conclusions: Loss of cytoplasmic P-cadherin expression is common in advanced melanomas and can be a prognostic marker of progression in patients with melanoma, most useful in patients with primary tumours <2 mm in thickness.

Abbreviations: IHC, immunohistochemistry; RFS, recurrence-free survival; TMA, tissue microarray

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