Increased Nuclear Volume in Metastasizing “Thick” Melanomas
Tumor invasion is the most reliable prognostic factor for primary stage I melanoma. “Thick” melanomas, with a Breslow thickness of more than 4mm, tend to have a poor prognosis. Exceptions occur: some patients have no further recurrence of tumor. In an attempt to determine prognostic markers for “Thi...
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Published in | Journal of investigative dermatology Vol. 106; no. 3; pp. 437 - 440 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
01.03.1996
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Tumor invasion is the most reliable prognostic factor for primary stage I melanoma. “Thick” melanomas, with a Breslow thickness of more than 4mm, tend to have a poor prognosis. Exceptions occur: some patients have no further recurrence of tumor. In an attempt to determine prognostic markers for “Thick” clinical stage I melanomas, we investigated the volume-weighted mean nuclear volume of primary melanomas with tumor invasions ≥4.0mm in 32 patients. Seventeen of these patients developed melanoma metastases within a follow-up period of 60 mo; 15 patients who did not developed metastases and were comparable with regard to clinical and histological criteria were selected as a comparison group. Volume-weighted mean nuclear volume (Vv is determined by a technique that permits an unbiased, efficient, shape- and orientation-independent, 3-dimensional estimation of nuclear size in tissues. This technique has been employed successfully in the prognostic assessment of stage I and II melanomas and was recently proven to be a sensitive marker for thin, high-risk melanomas. In our patients, Vv, was determined by computer-assisted image analysis on Feulgen-stained sections by stereologic estimation of the Vv. The mean Vv, (± SD) of primary melanomas with subsequent metastatic course was 794.99 ± 209.18 μm3 (range: 409.48-1161.9 μm3), whereas primary melanoma lesions without subsequent metastases exhibited a mean Vv, 640.54 ± 205.07 μm3 (range: 206.7-927.48 μm3). This difference was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.0439). “Thick” melanomas with subsequent metastases thus exhibited a significantly higher Vv, than did melanomas that did not metastasize. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0022-202X 1523-1747 |
DOI: | 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12343580 |