TY - JOUR
T1 - Tyrosinase mRNA in blood of patients with melanoma treated with adjuvant interferon
AU - Mellado, Begoña
AU - Vela, Maria del Carmen
AU - Colomer, Dolors
AU - Gutierrez, Lorena
AU - Castel, Teresa
AU - Quintó, Llorenç
AU - Fontanillas, Montserrat
AU - Reguart, Noemi
AU - Domingo-Domènech, José M.
AU - Montagut, Clara
AU - Estapé, Jordi
AU - Gascón, Pedro
PY - 2002/10/1
Y1 - 2002/10/1
N2 - Purpose: To evaluate the clinical significance of the detection of circulating melanoma cells in patients treated with adjuvant interferon and to determine their potential value as a marker of interferon response. Patients and Methods: We prospectively analyzed 616 peripheral-blood samples from 120 melanoma patients with stage IIA (n = 33), IIb (n = 22), III (n = 50), or IV (surgically resected) (n = 15) disease receiving adjuvant interferon alfa-2b therapy. Tyrosinase mRNA was assayed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a marker of circulating melanoma cells before the start of interferon and every 2 to 3 months thereafter. Results: With a median follow-up time of 32.3 months (range, 7.1 to 77.5 months), 47 patients (39.8%) relapsed and 31 (26%) died. During adjuvant interferon treatment, 76 patients (64%) had undetected circulating melanoma cells and 44 patients (36%) had a positive RT-PCR result in at least one sample. Actuarial 5-year disease-free survival was 62% in patients with persistently negative RT-PCR during interferon treatment and 38% for patients with positive RT-PCR during interferon (P = .02). Actuarial 5-year overall survival was 75% and 50%, respectively (P = .03). Conclusion: Patients with melanoma and tyrosinase mRNA detected in the blood during adjuvant interferon therapy had a worse prognosis compared with patients with undetected tyrosinase mRNA during treatment. Further investigation into the detection of circulating melanoma cells as a surrogate marker of response to adjuvant interferon therapy is warranted.
AB - Purpose: To evaluate the clinical significance of the detection of circulating melanoma cells in patients treated with adjuvant interferon and to determine their potential value as a marker of interferon response. Patients and Methods: We prospectively analyzed 616 peripheral-blood samples from 120 melanoma patients with stage IIA (n = 33), IIb (n = 22), III (n = 50), or IV (surgically resected) (n = 15) disease receiving adjuvant interferon alfa-2b therapy. Tyrosinase mRNA was assayed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a marker of circulating melanoma cells before the start of interferon and every 2 to 3 months thereafter. Results: With a median follow-up time of 32.3 months (range, 7.1 to 77.5 months), 47 patients (39.8%) relapsed and 31 (26%) died. During adjuvant interferon treatment, 76 patients (64%) had undetected circulating melanoma cells and 44 patients (36%) had a positive RT-PCR result in at least one sample. Actuarial 5-year disease-free survival was 62% in patients with persistently negative RT-PCR during interferon treatment and 38% for patients with positive RT-PCR during interferon (P = .02). Actuarial 5-year overall survival was 75% and 50%, respectively (P = .03). Conclusion: Patients with melanoma and tyrosinase mRNA detected in the blood during adjuvant interferon therapy had a worse prognosis compared with patients with undetected tyrosinase mRNA during treatment. Further investigation into the detection of circulating melanoma cells as a surrogate marker of response to adjuvant interferon therapy is warranted.
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U2 - 10.1200/JCO.2002.08.009
DO - 10.1200/JCO.2002.08.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0036787583
SN - 0732-183X
VL - 20
SP - 4032
EP - 4039
JO - Journal of Clinical Oncology
JF - Journal of Clinical Oncology
IS - 19
ER -