Stable and strong expression of basic fibroblast growth factor in naevus cell naevus contrasts with aberrant expression in melanoma

It has been proposed that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is an autocrine growth factor of melanoma cells, in contrast with normal melanocytes where bFGF acts as a paracrine growth factor. As this notion is mostly based on the different requirements for bFGF in cultures of benign and malignant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish journal of dermatology (1951) Vol. 130; no. 3; p. 320
Main Authors Ueda, M, Funasaka, Y, Ichihashi, M, Mishima, Y
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.03.1994
Subjects
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 - analysis
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Melanoma - chemistry
Melanoma - secondary
Neoplasm Proteins - analysis
Nevus - chemistry
Skin Neoplasms - chemistry
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Summary:It has been proposed that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is an autocrine growth factor of melanoma cells, in contrast with normal melanocytes where bFGF acts as a paracrine growth factor. As this notion is mostly based on the different requirements for bFGF in cultures of benign and malignant pigment cells in vitro, we performed an immunohistochemical study to examine bFGF expression in vivo, using paraffin sections from naevus cell naevi (NCN) and malignant melanoma (MM). All the NCN (n = 7) showed strong and homogeneous expression of bFGF protein, whereas the primary MMs (n = 5) showed heterogeneous expression, with a population of negative cells. Metastatic MMs (n = 5) also showed heterogeneous expression, and had a greater population of negative cells. These results suggest that bFGF has some, as yet unidentified, role in the growth of benign NCN, and that overexpression of bFGF is neither a prerequisite for melanoma genesis nor for progression to metastatic MM.
ISSN:0007-0963
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2133.1994.tb02927.x