Serologic and immunohistochemical prognostic biomarkers of cutaneous malignancies

Biomarkers are important tools in clinical diagnosis and prognostic classification of various cutaneous malignancies. Besides clinical and histopathological aspects (e.g. anatomic site and type of the primary tumour, tumour size and invasion depth, ulceration, vascular invasion), an increasing variety of molecular markers have been identified, providing the possibility of a more detailed diagnostic and prognostic subgrouping of tumour entities, up to even changing existing classification systems. Recently published gene expression or proteomic profiling data relate to new marker molecules involved in skin cancer pathogenesis, which may, after validation by suitable studies, represent future prognostic or predictive biomarkers in cutaneous malignancies. We, here, give an overview on currently known serologic and newer immunohistochemical biomarker molecules in the most common cutaneous malignancies, malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and cutaneous lymphoma, particularly emphasizing their prognostic and predictive significance

Post-surgery adjuvant therapy with intermediate doses of interferon alfa 2b versus observation in patients with stage IIb/III melanoma (EORTC 18952): randomised controlled trial.

Individuals affected by melanoma with thick primary tumours or regional node involvement have a poor outlook, with only 30-50% alive at 5 years. High-dose and low-dose interferon alfa have been assessed for the treatment of these patients, with the former having considerable toxicity and a consistent effect on disease free survival, but not on overall survival, and the latter no consistent effect on either. Our aim was, therefore, to assess the effect of two regimens of interferon of intermediate dose versus observation alone on distant metastasis-free interval (DMFI) and overall survival in such patients.Clinical TrialJournal ArticleMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled TrialResearch Support, N.I.H. ExtramuralResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe