ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Evaluation of the protein osteopontin (OPN) as a potential new marker in comparison to melanoma inhibitory activity (MIA) for screening and detection of metastatic uveal melanoma. METHODS: Plasma levels of 32 patients with uveal melanoma were analyzed for OPN and MIA by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Fourteen of these patients had clinically detectable liver metastases. RESULTS: Median plasma concentration of OPN in patients with metastatic disease was 152.01 ng/ml compared to 47.39 ng/ml in patients without clinically detectable metastases (p < 0.001). The difference between the median MIA plasma levels in patients with (13.11 ng/ml) and patients without (5.64 ng/ml) metastatic disease was also statistically significant (p < 0.001). No correlation could be found between MIA or OPN levels and tumor height in patients without clinically detectable metastases. CONCLUSION: The proteins MIA and OPN seem to be promising tumor markers for the metastasis screening in patients with uveal melanoma.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor/blood , Extracellular Matrix Proteins/blood , Liver Neoplasms/secondary , Melanoma/blood , Neoplasm Proteins/blood , Osteopontin/blood , Uveal Neoplasms/blood , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/blood , Male , Melanoma/secondary , Middle Aged , Uveal Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To evaluate the protein osteopontin (OPN) as a potential new marker for screening and detection of metastatic uveal melanoma. DESIGN: Prospective, clinical study. METHODS: Twenty-eight plasma samples of 27 patients with uveal melanoma were analyzed, and the OPN plasma levels were quantified. Eight of these patients showed liver metastasis. As a control, we measured OPN levels in eight healthy, age-matched individuals. RESULTS: The median plasma concentration of OPN in patients with melanoma without metastasis was 46.78 ng/ml (range, 14.5 to 118.67 ng/ml). In contrast, increased median levels of OPN of 170.72 ng/ml (range, 87.37 to 375.54 ng/ml, P <.001) were seen in eight patients with proven metastatic disease. Healthy patients without uveal melanoma showed a median plasma concentration of OPN of 54.6 ng/ml (range, 38.23 to 71.21 ng/ml). CONCLUSION: The protein OPN seems to be a promising tumor marker for detecting metastatic disease in patients with uveal melanoma.
