NEURAL CELL-ADHESION MOLECULE-DISTRIBUTION IN PRIMARY AND METOSTATIC UVEAL MELANOMA

Tumor cell adhesion, detachment, and aggregation play an important par t in tumor invasion and metastasis, and a variety of cell adhesion mol ecules have been found on tumor cells. Cell adhesion molecules, includ ing those of the immunoglobulin superfamily, are associated with the d evelopment of metastatic behavior in cutaneous melanomas. The neural c ell adhesion molecule (NCAM) belongs to this family. To investigate it s possible role in the development metastatic behavior of weal melanom as, the authors studied immunohistochemically the expression of NCAM b y using an antibody that recognizes all three major isoforms of NCAM a nd an antibody that recognizes the HNRK-1 epitope present on some isof orms of NCAM. The authors studied 32 primary weal melanomas from 32 pa tients (among these, 12 were rapidly metastasizing and 16 slowly metas tasizing) and 29 metastases from 19 patients. From 13 patients the pri mary, as well as the metastatic, tumors were available. With one excep tion, all HNK-1 positive primary and metastatic tumors were also posit ive for NCAM. NCAM was significantly more expressed in aggressive, rap idly metastasizing primary tumors (P =.02 and .04, respectively) and i n metastases. HNK-1 was significantly (P =.04) more expressed in large r tumors. In liver metastases HNK-1 immunoreactivity was significantly (P =.005) less frequently expressed than NCAM. Therefore, NCAM isofor ms that lack the HNK-1 epitope might play a role in the organ specific metastatic behavior of weal melanomas. HUM PATHOL 26:1185-1190. Copyr ight (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company