Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Lentigo maligna (LM) is an indolent form of melanoma in situ with the potential to progress to invasive melanoma. Early detection and adequate treatment prior to development to invasive melanoma are essential. Definitive excision with negative margins is currently the treatment of choice for LM. Conventional excision, Mohs micrographic surgical excision, and nonexcisional methods of treatment of LM will be discussed.
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PMID:Treatment of lentigo maligna. 1138 54

Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized by nitric oxide synthases (NOS) and plays an important role in tumour growth. In this study, inducible NOS (iNOS) expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 34 melanocytic naevi (13 common melanocytic naevi, six Spitz naevi, and 15 so-called 'dysplastic naevi'), ten cutaneous melanomas in situ, 50 stage I invasive melanomas, and eight subcutaneous metastases of melanoma. In addition, four samples of melanocytic naevi and four samples of invasive melanomas were collected in order to perform western blot and northern blot analysis. By immunohistochemistry, melanocytic naevi never expressed iNOS. Among cases of melanoma in situ, two were negative, seven displayed staining in less than 20% of melanoma cells, and positivity was observed in 21-50% of melanoma cells in only one case. iNOS expression was detected in 46 out of 50 invasive melanomas (92%). Among these cases, 18 showed positivity in less than 20% of melanoma cells, 18 showed positivity in 21-50% of melanoma cells, and ten showed iNOS expression in more than 50% of cells. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in iNOS expression between melanocytic naevi and cutaneous melanomas (p<0.001). In addition, iNOS expression was significantly higher in invasive melanomas than in melanomas in situ (p=0.01). Among primary cutaneous melanomas, no significant correlation was found between iNOS expression and histopathological parameters (histotype, level, thickness and presence of regression/inflammatory infiltrate) and disease-specific survival. In subcutaneous melanoma metastases, iNOS expression was diffuse in more than 50% of cells. Statistical analysis revealed that subcutaneous melanoma metastases showed greater iNOS immunoreactivity than invasive melanomas (p=0.02). Molecular analyses confirmed that iNOS mRNA and protein were highly expressed in melanoma samples. In conclusion, iNOS was constantly absent in melanocytic naevi, whereas it was frequently expressed in melanomas, with up-regulation of the enzyme paralleling tumour progression. These data suggest that iNOS may play a role in the malignant transformation of melanocytes and in tumour growth. In addition, iNOS may be useful as an immunohistochemical marker for malignant melanocytic lesions.
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PMID:Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in benign and malignant cutaneous melanocytic lesions. 1140 Jan 48

Animal type melanoma is a rare histopathologic variant of melanoma characterized by sheets and nodules of heavily pigmented epithelioid melanocytes that involve the entire thickness of the dermis. This human neoplasm mimics melanocytic neoplasms seen in gray horses and laboratory animals; thus, is termed animal type melanoma. It is quite rare and, with only a few reported cases, its biological behavior is not well understood. We report an example of animal type melanoma on the back of a 27-year-old man. The lesion showed areas of melanoma in situ, which ruled out the possibility of metastatic melanoma. Features of regression were also seen at dermo-epidermal junction and papillary dermis. In some areas, neoplastic melanocytes exhibited a balloon-cell appearance; in others the neoplasm was composed of sheets and fascicles of heavily pigmented epithelioid melanocytes that permeated the entire dermis and extended into the dermal-subcutaneous interface, mimicking a cellular blue nevus. Epithelioid melanocytes in deeper areas showed abundant, heavily pigmented cytoplasm and pleomorphic nuclei with prominent eosinophilic nucleoli and some mitotic figures. The neoplastic cells did not show evidence of maturation in deeper areas of the lesion. In some sections, a nodule of heavily pigmented epithelioid melanocytes was seen far from the main bulk of the lesion, at the dermal-subcutaneous interface, raising the possibility of a satellite lesion. A lymphoscintigraphy showed a sentinel lymph node in the right axilla and a subsequent axillary lymphadenectomy demonstrated that the architecture of the sentinel lymph node was effaced by metastatic melanoma. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with inteferon alfa-2b and four months after this treatment the patient is alive and well, without evidence of recurrences or additional metastases.
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PMID:Animal type melanoma: a report of a case with balloon-cell change and sentinel lymph node metastasis. 1148 28

The helix-loop-helix transcription factor Id1 coordinates cell growth and differentiation pathways within mammalian cells and has been implicated in regulating G(1)-S phase cell cycle transitions. Recently Id1 has been shown to repress Ets- and E-protein-mediated transactivation of p16/Ink4a. Because the p16/Ink4a protein has been demonstrated to be inactivated in subsets of familial and sporadic melanomas, we sought to determine whether Id1 regulation of p16/Ink4a expression might be involved in the development of this human tumor. Here we evaluate 21 melanocytic lesions at various stages of malignant progression from common melanocytic nevi to metastatic melanomas and examine these lesions for Id1 and p16/Ink4a expression. We demonstrate that Id1 expression correlates with loss of p16/Ink4a expression in melanoma in situ; however, more advanced stages of melanoma do not express Id1 except within perivascular regions, despite overall decreased p16/Ink4a expression in these lesions. Microdissected lesions were evaluated for p16/Ink4a sequence, and invasive melanomas that did not express Id1 were found to have sustained inactivating p16/ink4a mutations. These data suggest a role for Id1 in regulating p16/Ink4a expression in early melanomas and demonstrate that later genetic changes may provide for irreversible loss of p16 expression in advanced stages of this tumor.
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PMID:The transcriptional repressor of p16/Ink4a, Id1, is up-regulated in early melanomas. 1150 43

The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the US National Cancer Institute has provided population-based, histologically confirmed incidence data for melanomas restricted to the epidermis (in situ) and invasive melanomas for representative areas of the US for the years 1975 to 1997. The incidence of in situ melanomas has increased more rapidly than that for invasive melanoma, but both appear to conform to the birth-cohort pattern. As both changed from year to year, the incidence of melanoma in situ and invasive melanoma at the time of diagnosis were linked by simple proportional relationships. The ratio of in situ to invasive tumours was similar in males and females, suggesting that the generally better female prognosis develops once the tumour has spread into the dermis. Across the age groups, the patients with in situ tumours were older than those with invasive tumours. This suggests slower growth, while histological confirmation of the diagnoses and the precise linkage between the incidence rates for in situ and invasive melanomas implies a close biological connection between tumours that progress and those that do not. Study of the in situ tumours could reveal what was holding them back.
Melanoma Res 2001 Oct
PMID:The systematic relationship between melanomas diagnosed in situ and when invasive. 1159 91

Two cases of esophageal primary melanoma in females aged 63 and 68 years with nodular and lentiginous forms of growth are reported. The diagnosis was made intraoperatively and at autopsy, respectively. Morphogenetically, there were primary multiple non-simultaneous zones of tumor growth with the apposition growth as a form of tumor progression. Early stages of morphogenesis were characterized by atypical borderline melanocytic activity, melanoma in situ with a starting invasive growth being basic criteria for diagnosis of primary esophageal melanoma in examination of endoscopic and surgical material.
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PMID:[Primary esophageal melanoma ]. 1176 14

Expression of the beta(3) integrin subunit in melanoma in situ has been found to correlate with tumor thickness, the ability to invade and metastasize, and poor prognosis. Transition from the radial growth phase (RGP) to the vertical growth phase (VGP) is a critical step in melanoma progression and survival and is distinguished by the expression of beta(3) integrin. The molecular pathways that operate in melanoma cells associated with invasion and metastasis were examined by ectopic induction of the beta(3) integrin subunit in RGP SBcl2 and WM1552C melanoma cells, which converts these cells to a VGP phenotype. We used cDNA representational difference analysis subtractive hybridization between beta(3)-positive and -negative melanoma cells to assess gene expression profile changes accompanying RGP to VGP transition. Fourteen fragments from known genes including osteonectin (also known as SPARC and BM-40) were identified after three rounds of representational difference analysis. Induction of osteonectin was confirmed by Northern and Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry and correlated in organotypic cultures with the beta(3)-induced progression from RGP to VGP melanoma. Expression of osteonectin was also associated with reduced adhesion to vitronectin, but not to fibronectin. Osteonectin expression was not blocked when melanoma cells were cultured with anti-alpha(v)beta(3) LM609 mAb, mitogen-activated protein kinase, or protein kinase C inhibitors, indicating that other signaling pathway(s) operate through alpha(v)beta(3) integrin during conversion from RGP to VGP.
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PMID:Osteonectin/SPARC induction by ectopic beta(3) integrin in human radial growth phase primary melanoma cells. 1178 82

We report an unusual case of two nail-bed streaks under one nail, revealing melanoma in situ affecting the nail bed and plate, but not the nail fold. This unusual mode of presentation together with the absence of any nail-fold involvement has not been reported previously. We highlight the need for early histological assessment of nail-bed lesions and discuss subungual melanoma.
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PMID:Subungual melanoma in situ: two independent streaks in one nail bed. 1198 57

When performing a total body skin examination, we discovered a melanoma in situ when a patient took off her wristwatch. This case illustrates the importance of removing jewelry when performing a complete skin examination. Furthermore, the location of this lesion highlights the association between malignant melanoma and intermittent sun exposure.
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PMID:Keeping a watch on melanoma. 1204 20

Early and correct diagnosis of malignant melanoma is of utmost importance to ensure adequate treatment and the best outcome. Prompted by the death of a patient with an apparent metastasising melanoma in situ, we reassessed 104 people with this malignant disorder, whose diagnosis had been histopathologically verified. We did immunohistochemical analysis of cells with the melanocytic marker melan-A/MART-1, and results of this analysis showed that 30 (29%) of 104 patients had invasive melanomas. One patient died of distant metastases, and the tumour recurred in another. Our finding could be relevant for diagnosis and treatment of melanoma in situ.
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PMID:Reliability of diagnosis of melanoma in situ. 1205 58


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