Abstract
Purpose: :
Conjunctival melanoma is one of most common ocular surface malignancies, often be generated from conjunctival compound naevi. Beside prognostic factors, not much is know about the molecular biological processes of conjunctival melanoma metastasis. Ocular surface mucins MUC1, 4, and 16 are involved in cancer metastasis e.g. in breast, pancreas and ovarian cancer. Objective of this study is to test, whether there is a difference in expression of MUC1, 4, and 16 in conjunctival melanoma, conjunctival compound naevi and normal conjunctiva.
Methods: :
Human specimens of four subjects with conjunctival melanoma, seven subjects with conjunctival compound naevi and seven control subjects with normal conjunctiva were fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin and cut in sections. Diagnosis of these specimens was confirmed by histological evaluation. Expression of MUC1, 4 and 16 was demonstrated by immunohistochemical staining in all specimens.
Results: :
Immunohistochemical analysis for MUC16 showed a higher conjunctival melanoma expression in comparison to conjunctival compound naevi. Staining for MUC4, showed a higher expression of this glycoprotein in conjunctival melanoma expression in comparison to conjunctival compound naevi and islands of extreme high expression of MUC4 in conjunctival melanoma. No differences were demonstrated for staining with MUC1.
Conclusions: :
Differences in ocular mucin expression of MUC4 and MUC16 have been demonstrated in human in-vivo specimens of conjunctival melanoma and compound naevi. Further studies are necessary to elucidate, how ocular surface mucins are involved in conjunctival melanoma development and metastasis.
Keywords: conjunctiva • melanoma • pathology: human