title: Tumor markers in peripheral blood of patients with malignant melanoma: multimarker RT-PCR versus a luminoimmunometric assay for S-100.
abstract: The identification of circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with malignant melanoma by detection of melanoma associated protein transcripts using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique has been introduced as a noninvasive and sensitive technique for early detection of tumor progression and metastatic disease. An alternative approach is the analysis of S-100 protein in the serum of melanoma patients by a luminoimmunometric assay (LIA). In this study, the sensitivities of RT-PCR and LIA were compared. Seventy-seven blood samples of 59 melanoma patients were analyzed for tyrosinase, Melan-A/MART-1, MAGE-3, gp100, and p97 expression by multimarker RT-PCR; 540 serum samples of 352 melanoma patients were analyzed for S-100 protein concentration by LIA. In stage III 23.8% and in stage IV 37.5% of the samples were positive for at least one marker in multimarker RT-PCR, versus 8.1% and 48.1% of elevated S-100 levels analyzed by LIA, respectively. In a direct comparison, 31 identical samples were analyzed by multimarker RT-PCR and by S-100 LIA. In stage III 18.2% and in stage IV 45% of the samples were positive by multimarker RT-PCR versus 45.5% and 80% by S-100 LIA, respectively. S-100 LIA was more sensitive in detection of metastatic disease in melanoma patients than multimarker RT-PCR and should be evaluated in further studies. RT-PCR might be more useful in the analysis of micrometastases in anatomic compartments other than peripheral blood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berking
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Schlüpen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schrader
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Atzpodien
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volkenandt
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D009418:S100 Proteins