title: Prognostic value of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and tyrosinase as markers for circulating tumor cells detection in patients with melanoma.
abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) as a marker for the detection of circulating melanoma cells, determine its prognostic value in melanoma patients, and compare it with tyrosinase. Blood samples from 201 melanoma patients in all stages of the disease and 40 healthy volunteers were analyzed. RNA was isolated from mononuclear cell fraction of the blood and assayed by reverse transcription-PCR for the expression of MITF and tyrosinase. All samples from healthy volunteers were negative for both MITF and tyrosinase. Out of 201 blood samples from melanoma patients 32 were positive for MITF, 20 for tyrosinase, and four for both MITF and tyrosinase. Analysis of MITF as an additional marker to tyrosinase allowed for detection of circulating melanoma cells in a larger number of melanoma patients in comparison to tyrosinase analysis alone (48 vs. 20 positive). A positive value of MITF was associated with shorter progression-free (P=0.005) and overall survival (P=0.042). A positive value of tyrosinase was associated with shorter overall survival (P=0.012), whereas there was no significant association between the value of tyrosinase and progression-free survival. The value of MITF was selected with multivariate analysis as the independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival, whereas the only independent prognostic factor for overall survival was the stage of disease. This study has shown that MITF is a specific marker for detection of circulating melanoma cells that has a prognostic value in melanoma patients. Determination of MITF in addition to tyrosinase improved the detection of circulating melanoma cells in melanoma patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia. isamija@kbsm.hr
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Samija
authors.forename: Josip
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lukac
authors.forename: Jasmina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marić-Brozić
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buljan
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alajbeg
authors.forename: Dujo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kovacević
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Situm
authors.forename: Zvonko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kusić
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase