title: Melanoma inhibitory activity in Brazilian patients with cutaneous melanoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Melanoma inhibitory activity is a protein secreted by melanoma cells and has been used as a tumor marker. Increased Melanoma inhibitory activity serum levels are related to metastatic disease or tumor recurrence. Currently there are no studies on Melanoma inhibitory activity and cutaneous melanoma involving Brazilian patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the performance and feasibility of measuring Melanoma inhibitory activity levels in Brazilian patients with cutaneous melanoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was obtained from ten patients with proved metastatic cutaneous melanoma (Group 1), 15 patients resected for cutaneous melanoma without metastasis (Group 2) and 5 healthy donors (Group 3). Melanoma inhibitory activity was measured using a commercially available ELISA kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a statistically significant difference of Melanoma inhibitory activity levels between patients with and without metastasis (p=0.002), and between patients with metastasis and healthy donors (p=0.002). There was no difference between patients without metastasis and healthy donors (p=0.443).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Melanoma inhibitory activity is a tumor marker for cutaneous melanoma and the Melanoma inhibitory activity-ELISA test can be easily performed. Patients with metastasis have increased Melanoma inhibitory activity serum levels when compared to patients without metastasis and healthy donors.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Macanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Odashiro
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gunter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hans Filho
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia Rusa
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Rita Coimbra Motta
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alcione Cavalheiro
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Stief
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elenir Rose Jardim Cury
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Pontes
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandre Nakao
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Odashiro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; C090059:MIA protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins