title: The expression of human high molecular weight melanoma-associated antigen in acral lentiginous melanoma.
abstract: The high molecular weight melanoma-associated antigen (HMW-MAA) is a membrane-bound chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan that is highly expressed on the surface of melanoma cells. It represents an attractive target for immunotherapy of malignant melanoma. Previously, it was reported that HMW-MAA was detected in about 20-30% of primary acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) lesions by immunohistochemical staining (IHC) of frozen sections with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In the present study, we examined the expression of HMW-MAA in 95 paraffin-embedded, primary ALM lesions and 13 primary superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) lesions. A total of 51 primary ALM lesions (53.6%) were positive for HMW-MAA. Almost all of these positive cases showed a weak staining intensity. On the other hand, all 13 primary SSM lesions were strongly positive for HMW-MAA expression. Our data showed that the staining intensity of HMW-MAA ALM lesions was weaker than that of SSM. Furthermore, the percentage of HMW-MAA positive staining in ALM lesions was higher than previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan. 060r5136@st.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hazuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kageshita
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ihn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4