title: Increased expression of melanoma stem cell marker CD271 in metastatic melanoma to the brain.
abstract: Human melanoma contains multipotent stem cells that express the neural crest stem cell marker CD271. CD271-expressing melanoma cells in murine xenografts give rise to metastatic tumor. However, a comprehensive clinical investigation of its role in different stages of melanomagenesis has not been well studied. We studied CD271 expression with immunohistochemistry in 11 cases of banal melanocytic nevus, 9 cases of primary cutaneous melanoma, 10 cases of primary mucosal melanoma, 5 cases of metastatic melanoma in regional lymph nodes, and 11 cases of metastatic melanoma in the brain. In addition, 9 cases of metastatic, high-grade adenocarcinomas from breast and lung to the brain were studied as controls. The staining was scored based on the number of positive cells and analyzed by student t-test. All banal melanocytic nevi showed negative to equivocal staining. Primary cutaneous melanomas showed variable patterns, mucosal melanomas were mostly negative, and metastases to lymph nodes ranged from negative to moderate positivity. In contrast, all 11 cases of metastatic melanoma to the brain showed moderate (4 cases) to strong positivity (7 cases). Metastases from lung and breast origin were used as controls and showed negative to weakly positive staining in all but one case. Statistically, CD271 has significantly increased expression in metastatic melanoma to the brain when compared to the other groups studied (P < 0.05). The findings suggest that CD271 expression is specifically increased in metastatic melanoma to the brain. Further prospective study for the role of CD271 in prediction of melanoma brain metastasis as well as prognosis assessment will be of great clinical significance.
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Ruifeng
authors: R
authors: Guo
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Amelia
authors: A
authors: Fierro-Fine
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Lindsey
authors: L
authors: Goddard
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Madison
authors: M
authors: Russell
authors: University of Oklahoma Stephenson Cancer Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Wisconson USA.
authors: Cheng Z
authors: CZ
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Kar-Ming
authors: KM
authors: Fung
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors: Lewis A
authors: LA
authors: Hassell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000556:secondary*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C484065:NGFR protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor
keywords: CD271; Melanoma; melanoma prognosis; metastatic melanoma; tumor stem cells