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Primary Invasive Melanomas (primary + invasive_melanoma)

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Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Quality of histopathological reporting on melanoma and influence of use of a synoptic template

HISTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
Lauren E Haydu
Haydu L E, Holt P E, Karim R Z, Madronio C M, Thompson J F, Armstrong B K & Scolyer R A (2010) Histopathology56, 768,774 Quality of histopathological reporting on melanoma and influence of use of a synoptic template Aims:, To evaluate the quality of histopathological reporting for melanoma in a whole population, to assess the influence on quality of the use of a synoptic template and thus to provide an evidence base to guide improvement in reporting melanoma pathology. Methods and results:, Histopathology reports of all primary invasive melanomas notified to the New South Wales Central Cancer Registry between October 2006 and October 2007 (n = 3784) were reviewed. A detailed audit of histopathology reports for consecutively diagnosed primary invasive melanoma over 6 months (n = 2082) was performed to assess the quality of each report based on compliance with the 2008 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Melanoma in Australia and New Zealand. Only half of the initial excision specimen reports included the essential components necessary to stage a melanoma patient according to the 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer melanoma staging system. Report format was strongly correlated with completeness and validity of reporting: reports in a synoptic format, with or without a descriptive component, achieved the highest quality levels. Conclusions:, Even in a population with a high incidence of melanoma, concordance of pathology reports with current guidelines was comparatively low. Wider adoption of synoptic reporting is likely to increase report quality. [source]

Increasing Expression of the Retinoic X Receptor-B During Malignant Melanoma Progression

JOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
S.J. McAlhany
Retinoic X receptor-b (RXR-b) is a heterodimerization partner for vitamin D receptor (VDR). 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 activation of VDR leads to growth inhibition in numerous cell lines, including some melanoma lines. Evaluation of VDR and RXR-b expression in vivo in melanocytic neoplasms will increase our understanding of this pathways potential role in growth control. Previous studies in our laboratory showed decreased VDR expression in superficially invasive melanoma, and progressive loss of expression in deeply invasive melanomas and metastatic melanomas (MET). We next sought to evaluate RXR-b expression. Twenty-eight melanocytic neoplasms including 8 melanomas in situ (MIS), 9 primary invasive melanomas (PIM), and 11 MET were evaluated for RXR-b expression by immunohistochemistry. Nuclear labeling was assessed as 0 (0%), 1+(<5%), 2+(>5% but <50%), or 3+(>=50%). A significant increase in RXR-b expression from low (0,1+) to high (>1+) was found when comparing MIS to PIM and MET (chi2 p < 0.05). These data suggest: 1) potential loss of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 induced growth inhibition during melanoma progression may be due to decreased VDR expression without concomitant loss of RXR-b; and 2) increased RXR-b expression during melanoma progression may offer selective advantage through alternative signaling pathways. [source]

Immunohistochemical expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase 2, and matrix metalloproteinase 9 in cutaneous melanocytic lesions

CANCER, Issue 9 2002
M.D., Oriana Simonetti Ph.D.
Abstract BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an endothelial cell mitogen, plays a hierarchical role in regulating physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis. Moreover, the transformation from noninvasive to invasive carcinomas is accompanied by focal disruption and discontinuity of the basement membrane. Several groups of proteases have been implicated in tumor cell invasion, including the 72-kDa gelatinase A/Type IV collagenase (matrix metalloproteinase 2 [MMP-2]) and the 92-kDa gelatinase B/Type IV collagenase (MMP-9). METHODS The authors assessed the immunohistochemical expression of VEGF and metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 in paraffin embedded biopsy specimens of malignant melanomas (18 invasive melanomas and 10 in situ melanomas); dysplastic nevi with architectural disorder and cytologic atypia of melanocytes; Spitz nevi; and compound or predominantly intradermal, ordinary, benign melanocytic nevi. RESULTS Strong cytoplasmic staining for VEGF was observed in melanoma cells in as many as 77% of primary invasive melanomas, whereas only 25% of the in situ melanomas exhibited a detectable immunoreactivity for VEGF. It is interesting to note that no immunoreactivity was shown by any nevi; Spitz nevi, in particular, showed negative immunoreactivity to VEGF. Invasive melanomas and in situ melanomas displayed coexpression of MMP-2 and MMP-9, although to a variable extent. In particular, high MMP-2 staining was observed in 14 of 18 invasive melanomas; moreover, strong MMP-2 expression also was observed in 60% of in situ melanomas, whereas the residual 40% of those melanomas showed a moderate level of positivity. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of the current data showing that malignant melanocytic tumors displayed strong VEGF expression, whereas benign melanocytic proliferations showed no immunoreactivity for VEGF, VEGF also may be used as a discriminating factor to distinguish malignant melanoma from lesions of uncertain histology. Cancer 2002;95:1963,70. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10888 [source]