title: Serum microRNAs as biomarkers for recurrence in melanoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Identification of melanoma patients at high risk for recurrence and monitoring for recurrence are critical for informed management decisions. We hypothesized that serum microRNAs (miRNAs) could provide prognostic information at the time of diagnosis unaccounted for by the current staging system and could be useful in detecting recurrence after resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We screened 355 miRNAs in sera from 80 melanoma patients at primary diagnosis (discovery cohort) using a unique quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) panel. Cox proportional hazard models and Kaplan-Meier recurrence-free survival (RFS) curves were used to identify a miRNA signature with prognostic potential adjusting for stage. We then tested the miRNA signature in an independent cohort of 50 primary melanoma patients (validation cohort). Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if the miRNA signature can determine risk of recurrence in both cohorts. Selected miRNAs were measured longitudinally in subsets of patients pre-/post-operatively and pre-/post-recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A signature of 5 miRNAs successfully classified melanoma patients into high and low recurrence risk groups with significant separation of RFS in both discovery and validation cohorts (p = 0.0036, p = 0.0093, respectively). Significant separation of RFS was maintained when a logistic model containing the same signature set was used to predict recurrence risk in both discovery and validation cohorts (p < 0.0001, p = 0.033, respectively). Longitudinal expression of 4 miRNAs in a subset of patients was dynamic, suggesting miRNAs can be associated with tumor burden.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that serum miRNAs can improve accuracy in identifying primary melanoma patients with high recurrence risk and in monitoring melanoma tumor burden over time.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Erica B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Shulian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Eleazar Vega-Saenz
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: de Miera
authors.forename: Jacob Ulrik
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Fog
authors.forename: Maria Wrang
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Teilum
authors.forename: Michelle W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Russell S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pavlick
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hernando
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Yongzhao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Osman
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs