title: Circulating tyrosinase and MART-1 mRNA does not independently predict relapse or survival in patients with AJCC stage I-II melanoma.
abstract: The detection of melanoma cells in peripheral blood has been proposed to select patients with a high risk of relapse. In this study, tyrosinase and melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 (MART-1) mRNA expression was evaluated in serial samples obtained before definitive surgery and during follow-up in patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer stage I-II melanoma. Serial samples (n=2,262) were collected from 236 patients from 1997 to 2002. Analyses of the RNA samples were performed with a calibrated reverse transcriptase-PCR assay. Gender, age, primary tumor site, ulceration, thickness, Clark level, and histological subtype were analyzed together with tyrosinase and MART-1 mRNA treated as updated covariates in a Cox proportional-hazard model. After a median follow-up time of 66 months, 42 out of 236 patients (18%) had relapsed. The following variables were significantly associated with relapse-free survival in the univariate analyses: tyrosinase, MART-1, gender, ulceration, thickness, Clark level, and histological subtype. Entering these covariates into a multivariate Cox analysis resulted in thickness as the single independent prognostic factor (P<0.0001), whereas MART-1 (P=0.07) approached significance at the 5% significance level. The serial measurements of tyrosinase and MART-1 mRNA in peripheral blood of stage I-II melanoma patients cannot be demonstrated to have independent prognostic impact on relapse-free survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. hesch@as.aaa.dk
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Boe S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Sorensen
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sjoegren
authors.forename: Ib Jarle
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fode
authors.forename: Jorn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: Ebba
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nexo
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: von der Maase
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; C548667:MLANA protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase