title: Increased CCL17 serum levels are associated with improved survival in advanced melanoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prognostic factors of melanoma patients with distant metastases remain poorly established. This study aimed to compare the prognostic impact of putative serum biomarkers, namely S100B, YKL-40 or CCL17, in stage IV melanoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum concentrations were analyzed by ELISA. Disease-specific survival of 80 patients according to S100B, YKL-40 or CCL17 and clinical factors were calculated by univariate Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low serum levels of S100B, high concentrations of CCL17 and female gender correlated with improved survival. A trend for favorable prognosis was observed for the M categories M1a/b versus M1c according to the AJCC classification. No correlation with survival was evident for YKL-40 serum levels and age. In multivariate analysis, S100B (HR 2.1; p = 0.005) and CCL17 (HR 1.8; p = 0.029) had independent prognostic impact. Patients with a combination of normal S100B and high CCL17 had a high chance for long-term survival, which was 43 % after 3 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum levels of CCL17 and S100B represent independent prognostic markers for melanoma patients with distant metastases. These biomarkers were more powerful than the M category according to the AJCC classification to indicate overall survival. CCL17 represents a promising biomarker upon immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weide
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Allgaier
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hector
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Forschner
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Leiter
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Eigentler
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garbe
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hartl
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D054414:Chemokine CCL17 / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C106230:CCL17 protein, human; D054414:Chemokine CCL17