CADHERIN EXPRESSION IN MELANOCYTIC NAEVI AND MALIGNANT MELANOMAS

✍ Scribed by COWLEY, GERARD P.; SMITH, MARK E. F.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 589 KB
• Volume: 179
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3417
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(199606)179:2<183::aid-path554>3.0.co;2-w

✦ Synopsis

An immunocytochemical study has been undertaken of cadherin expression in 11 benign melanocytic uaevi and 14 malignant melanomas. Anti-pan-cadherin rabbit antibodies, which recognize multiple cadherin subtypes, demonstrated cadherin expression of moderate or strong intensity in 8 of 11 naevi. Expression was restricted to the more superficial melanocytes which possessed abundant cytoplasm (type A melanocytes). More deeply located melanocytes possessing little cytoplasm (type B melanocytes) or having a spindle cell morphology (type C melanocytes) lacked detectable pan-cadherin expression. The monoclonal antibody HECD-1 detected weak E-cadherin immunostaining in all 11 naevi, expression again being limited, with a single exception, to type A melanocytes. Cadherin immunostaining of moderate or strong intensity was detected by the pan-cadherin antibody in all 14 malignant melanomas. In contrast to naevi, cadherin expression in melanomas frequently extended into the deepest portions of the tumours. E-cadherin immunostaining in malignant melanomas was generally much stronger than that seen in naevi, often being of comparable intensity to the pan-cadherin staining. In summary, cadherins are frequently expressed in melanocytic tumours. In naevi, cadherin expression is related to the degree of melanocytic maturation. Cadherin expression, and particularly E-cadherin expression, tends to be greater in malignant melanomas than in naevi.