title: Prognostic significance of nestin in primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity.
abstract: Several studies have examined the correlation between nestin expression and the degree of tumor invasion in cutaneous melanoma. However, no information has been reported on nestin in primary mucosal melanoma of the head and neck. The present study examined the expression and prognostic significance of nestin in patients with primary mucosal melanoma of the oral cavity. Nestin expression was examined immunohistochemically in 39 patients (six oral melanoma in-situ cases and 33 invasive oral melanoma cases) and analyzed for association with disease progression. Age, sex, anatomic site, stage, level of invasion, regional lymph node metastasis, surgical margin involvement, and treatment modality were also analyzed. In the 33 invasive melanoma cases, invasion depth correlated significantly with prognosis in univariate and multivariate analyses. High-intensity nestin staining was observed in 14 of the 33 cases and a high proportion of nestin-positive cells was observed in 16 cases. In stage III oral melanoma cases, nestin expression was not significantly associated with disease progression. However, in stage IV cases, both the intensity and the proportion of nestin expression were significantly associated with disease progression (P=0.022 and 0.005, respectively). In all 33 invasive cases, multivariate analyses showed that both the intensity and the proportion of nestin were significantly associated with a poor prognosis (P=0.014 and 0.009; hazard ratio, 3.59 and 4.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-9.98 and 1.42-11.56, respectively). In conclusion, nestin can be a valuable prognostic indicator in the advanced-stage (stage IV) cases of oral mucosal melanoma.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University bDepartment of Dermatology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Su Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kuk
authors.forename: Chong Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wui Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Hye Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Seong Doo
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Sam Pyo
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jae
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D064231:Nestin / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
chemical_list: D064231:Nestin