Detection of c-Kit (CD117) and HER-2/neu in Oral and Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
Journal of Pan-Arab League of Dermatologists
Vol. 20, No. 1, February 2009 Page 33- 43
Detection of c-Kit (CD117) and HER-2/neu in Oral and Cutaneous
Malignant Melanomas
Sahar M El-Sheikh*, Samar M El-Sheikh** and Iman H El-Morsy***
Departments of Oral Pathology*, Surgical Pathology**, Faculty of Dentistry and Dermatology & Venereology***,
Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt
Abstract
Malignant melanoma (MM) is a malignant tumourarising from melanocytes. Its incidenceand overall mortality rates have beenincreasingin recent decades. CD117 (c-kit) and HER-2/neu oncoproteins are recently recognized astargets for therapy insolid tumours, but theirrole in malignant melanoma is still limited. Thiswork aimed to evaluate a possible prognosticvalue of c-it (CD117) and HER-2/neu in 12MM cases (10 cutaneous and 2 oral mucosalmelanomas) using the immunohistochemicalmethod. Clinical data were collected with emphasisto age, gender and site. All the MM caseswere of the nodular type. Onlyone case wasamelanotic melanoma. Our results revealed that66.6% (8/12) cases were immunopositive for ckitoncoprotein,while 8.3% (1/12) showed reactivityto HER-2/neu oncogene. We concludedthat although c-kit expression may not haveprognostic value, it does have significant therapeuticimplications as a molecular target warrantingfurther investigations. HER-/neu oncoproteinneither has a role in melanogenesisnor is a potential target for clinical trials withmonoclonal antibody therapy.This indicatesthat there is no role to test it in patients withMM.
Journal of Pan-Arab League of Dermatologists
Vol. 20, No. 1, February 2009 Page 33- 43
Detection of c-Kit (CD117) and HER-2/neu in Oral and Cutaneous
Malignant Melanomas
Sahar M El-Sheikh*, Samar M El-Sheikh** and Iman H El-Morsy***
Departments of Oral Pathology*, Surgical Pathology**, Faculty of Dentistry and Dermatology & Venereology***,
Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt
Abstract
Malignant melanoma (MM) is a malignant tumourarising from melanocytes. Its incidenceand overall mortality rates have beenincreasingin recent decades. CD117 (c-kit) and HER-2/neu oncoproteins are recently recognized astargets for therapy insolid tumours, but theirrole in malignant melanoma is still limited. Thiswork aimed to evaluate a possible prognosticvalue of c-it (CD117) and HER-2/neu in 12MM cases (10 cutaneous and 2 oral mucosalmelanomas) using the immunohistochemicalmethod. Clinical data were collected with emphasisto age, gender and site. All the MM caseswere of the nodular type. Onlyone case wasamelanotic melanoma. Our results revealed that66.6% (8/12) cases were immunopositive for ckitoncoprotein,while 8.3% (1/12) showed reactivityto HER-2/neu oncogene. We concludedthat although c-kit expression may not haveprognostic value, it does have significant therapeuticimplications as a molecular target warrantingfurther investigations. HER-/neu oncoproteinneither has a role in melanogenesisnor is a potential target for clinical trials withmonoclonal antibody therapy.This indicatesthat there is no role to test it in patients withMM.