Skin Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Skin Cancer, including details on identification, causes, prevention, treatment.

Prognostic significance of nuclear receptor coactivator-3 overexpression in primary cutaneous melanoma.

Rangel J, Torabian S, Shaikh L, Nosrati M, Baehner FL, Haqq C, Leong SP, Miller JR, Sagebiel RW, Kashani-Sabet M

Auerback Melanoma Research Laboratory, Cutaneous Oncology Program, University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.

PURPOSE: To assess the prognostic significance of nuclear receptor coactivator-3 (NCOA3) overexpression in primary cutaneous melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: NCOA3 expression was assessed using immunohistochemical analysis of a melanoma tissue microarray (TMA) containing primary melanomas from 343 patients with defined histology and follow-up. The impact of the presence or absence of various prognostic factors on relapse-free survival (RFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) of melanoma patients was assessed using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. The impact of presence or absence of various factors on sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis was assessed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Increasing degree of NCOA3 expression was significantly predictive of SLN metastasis (P = .013) and the mean number of SLN metastases (P = .031). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a significant association between NCOA3 overexpression and reduced RFS (P = .021) and DSS (P = .030). Logistic regression analysis revealed increasing degree of NCOA3 expression to be an independent predictor of SLN status (P = .017). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the independent impact of NCOA3 expression on RFS (P = .0095) and DSS (P = .021). NCOA3 was the most powerful factor predicting DSS, outperforming tumor thickness and ulceration. CONCLUSION: These results identify NCOA3 as a novel, independent marker of melanoma outcome, with a significant impact on SLN metastasis, RFS, and DSS.

Published 29 September 2006 in J Clin Oncol, 24(28): 4565-9.
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