Xerri L, Grob J J, Battyani Z, Gouvernet J, Hassoun J, Bonerandi J J
Department of Pathology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France.
Br J Cancer. 1994 Dec;70(6):1224-8. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1994.477.
The management of patients presenting with metastatic malignant melanoma (MM) is hampered by the substantial variability in survival of these patients and the lack of prognostic markers. In the search for a reliable predictive parameter, we have investigated the expression of the nm23 gene, considered to be a major regulator of the metastatic process. We have analysed by Northern blot the nm23 mRNA level in tumour tissue obtained from metastases of 20 stage II and ten stage III patients with MM. Normal human tissues and benign naevi were simultaneously examined. The level of nm23 expression was highly heterogeneous in MM metastases, with a mean value which was higher than the mean level in normal tissues and naevi. Correlative study was focused on the overall survival following resection of the metastasis in which nm23 Northern blot analysis was performed. Patients displaying higher nm23 expression in metastatic tissue (above the mean level) tended to have a longer survival than others (P = 0.08), and this difference was significant for patients presenting with isolated regional lymph node involvement (P = 0.035). The time from biopsy of the primary MM to the appearance of the first lymph node metastasis also showed a positive correlation with the nm23 mRNA level in this metastasis. The present study is not only in accordance with previous reports showing that the nm23 gene may be implicated in MM progression, but also suggests the reliable value of nm23 expression as a prognostic marker for patients presenting with metastatic MM.
转移性恶性黑色素瘤（MM）患者的治疗因这些患者生存情况的显著差异以及缺乏预后标志物而受到阻碍。在寻找可靠的预测参数时，我们研究了被认为是转移过程主要调节因子的nm23基因的表达。我们通过Northern印迹法分析了从20例II期和10例III期MM患者转移灶获取的肿瘤组织中nm23 mRNA的水平。同时检测了正常人体组织和良性痣。MM转移灶中nm23的表达水平高度异质性，其平均值高于正常组织和痣中的平均水平。相关性研究聚焦于进行nm23 Northern印迹分析的转移灶切除后的总生存期。在转移组织中显示较高nm23表达（高于平均水平）的患者往往比其他患者生存期更长（P = 0.08），对于出现孤立区域淋巴结受累的患者，这种差异具有显著性（P = 0.035）。从原发性MM活检到首次出现淋巴结转移的时间也与该转移灶中nm23 mRNA水平呈正相关。本研究不仅与先前报道一致，表明nm23基因可能与MM进展有关，还提示nm23表达作为转移性MM患者预后标志物的可靠价值。
