title: Prognostic significance of cytoplasmic p27 expression in human melanoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 plays important roles in cell proliferation, cell motility, and apoptosis. Interestingly, the nuclear and cytoplasmic p27 exert opposite biological functions. In this study, we investigated the prognostic impact of subcellular p27 expression.
  
  
  METHODS
  We constructed melanoma tissue microarrays in a large series of melanoma patients, including 29 normal nevi, 52 dysplastic nevi, 270 primary melanomas, and 148 metastatic melanomas. The expression level of subcellular p27 in different stages of melanocytic lesions and its prognostic significance were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with dysplastic nevi, nuclear p27 expression was remarkably reduced in primary melanomas and further reduced in metastatic melanoma (P < 0.001 for both), whereas cytoplasmic p27 expression is significantly increased from dysplastic nevi to primary melanomas (P = 0.032) and further increased in melanoma metastases (P = 0.037). Although loss of nuclear p27 expression is correlated with a worse 5-year survival of primary melanoma patients in Kaplan-Meier analysis (P = 0.046), it is not a prognostic factor by multivariate Cox regression analysis. On the contrary, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that gain of cytoplasmic p27 was associated with a poor 5-year survival of metastatic melanoma patients (P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that positive cytoplasmic p27 expression is an independent prognostic factor to predict metastatic melanoma patient outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cytoplasmic p27 may serve as a promising prognostic marker for metastatic melanoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because there is no reliable prognostic marker for metastatic melanoma, our finding may have important clinical implications using cytoplasmic p27 as a prognostic biomarker for advanced melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Guangdi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yabin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Zhizhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martinka
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D004416:Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009508:Nevus, Pigmented / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C436291:CDKN1B protein, human; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27