title: Co-expression of putative cancer stem cell markers, CD133 and Nestin, in skin tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer stem cells (CSC) are populations of cells responsible for tumor initiation, progression and therapeutic resistance in many cancers. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the expression pattern and clinical significance of two CSC markers, CD133 and Nestin, in a series of skin tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirteen paraffin blocks from skin cancers including 16 (14%) cases of melanoma, 37 (33%) of squamous cell cancer (SCC) and 60 (53%) of basal cell cancer (BCC) were collected and assembled in a tissue microarray (TMA). The samples were immunohistochemically examined for the expression of CD133 and Nestin. Expression of these markers was also correlated with clinicopathological parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference was observed in the expression of CD133 and Nestin in melanomas, SCC and BCC (p value=0.001). Furthermore, the level of expression was significantly higher in the melanomas compared to the SCC and BCC tumors. Expression of CD133 in the melanoma was significantly associated with increased tumor invasiveness (p value=0.05), a higher rate of metastasis (p value=0.04) and the presence of ulceration (p value=0.02). Increased expression of Nestin was observed in metastatic melanoma (p value=0.04), while no statistically significant correlation was found with other clinicopathological parameters including Breslow thickness, Clark level and ulceration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated expression levels of CD133 and Nestin in the melanomas are associated with advanced disease, with more aggressive and metastatic skin tumors. Therefore, these markers could be potential therapeutic targets for malignant tumors of the skin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran E-mail : Zahra.madjd@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehrdad Nasrollahzadeh
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Sabet
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhshan
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erfani
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Madjd
mesh_terms: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D064231:Nestin / Q000378:metabolism*; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006023:Glycoproteins; C577484:NES protein, human; D064231:Nestin; C000606023:PROM1 protein, human; D010455:Peptides