New prognostic factors in melanoma: mRNA tumour markers.
Circulating tumour cells in the peripheral blood may be important for haematogenous spread of malignant disease. Monitoring these cells may therefore be of prognostic value. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based assays to detect occult neoplastic cells offer the highest sensitivity for the study of tumour dissemination and minimal residual disease. This review summarises technical considerations and clinical investigations in melanoma patients of various disease stages. The clinical data are promising, but to clearly define the clinical usefulness of messenger RNA (mRNA) tumour markers, methodological issues must be resolved and the clinical value must be assessed prospectively in sufficiently large patient cohorts.
Keilholz
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Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, Free University Berlin, Germany.
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood / Q000556:secondary*; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm