title: Expression of Kallikrein-Related Peptidase 6 in Primary Mucosal Malignant Melanoma of the Head and Neck.
abstract: Mucosal melanomas of the head and neck (MMHN) are aggressive tumors with poor prognosis, different opposed to cutaneous melanoma. In this study, we characterized primary mucosal malignant melanoma for the expression of Kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6), a member of the KLK family with relevance to the malignant phenotype in various cancer types including cutaneous melanoma. Paraffin-embedded MMHN of 22 patients were stained immunohistochemically for KLK6 and results were correlated with clinical and pathological data. In 77.3% (17/22) of MMHN cases, positive KLK6 staining was found. Staining pattern for tumor cells showed a predominant cytoplasmic staining. However, in six cases we also observed a prominent nuclear staining. MMHN with a high KLK6 expression showed significantly better outcome concerning local recurrence-free survival (p = 0.013) and nuclear KLK6 staining was significantly associated with the survival status (p = 0.027). Overexpression of KLK6 was detected in more than 70% of MMHN and approximately 40% of tumors showed a strong expression pattern. Correlation between clinical outcome of MMHN patients and overexpression of KLK6 has not been addressed so far. Our data demonstrate for the first time increased levels of KLK6 in MMHN and strengthen the hypothesis that there might be a context-specific regulation and function of KLK6 in mucosal melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany. Julia.thierauf@uniklinik-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9607-3866
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thierauf
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Veit
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.|Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jochen K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lennerz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Weissinger
authors.affiliation: Section Experimental and Translational Head and Neck Oncology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.|Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Affolter
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Döscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Technical University Hospital Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knopf
authors.affiliation: Section Experimental and Translational Head and Neck Oncology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grünow
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grünmüller
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venerology, University Medical Center of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mauch
authors.affiliation: Section Experimental and Translational Head and Neck Oncology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Plinkert
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Section Experimental and Translational Head and Neck Oncology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.|Research Group Molecular Mechanisms of Head and Neck Tumors, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hess
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C103551:KLK6 protein, human; D007610:Kallikreins
keywords: Head and neck cancer; KLK6; Kallikrein-related peptidase 6; Mucosal melanoma