Immunohistochemical analysis of mda-9/syntenin in tissue sections of primary uveal melanomas shows correlation with metastatic progression.

Abstract

<p><b>A:</b> mda-9/syntenin expression in a choroidal metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma <b>A′:</b> primary uveal melanoma stained by secondary antibody in the absence of anti-mda-9/syntenin antibody (negative control). <b>B, C, D:</b> representative primary uveal melanomas displaying low, medium or high levels of mda-9/syntenin expression, respectively (original magnification 400×). <b>E:</b> liver metastasis of uveal melanoma (original magnification 100×). <b>F:</b> the same section at higher magnification (200×). Arrows indicate single cells of UM positive for mda-9/syntenin, which infiltrate the mda-9/syntenin-negative liver parenchima. <b>G:</b> liver metastasis of uveal melanoma from a different patient. <b>H:</b> the same at higher magnification. <b>I:</b> Kaplan-Meier analysis of Mda-9/syntenin protein expression and disease-free survival in patients with primary tumors. Patients with low mda-9/syntenin expression (dark line) showed longer survival than patients with high expression (gray line) (P<0.014). Patients were stratified according to a combination of qualitative/semi-quantitative grading. Censored patients are indicated in each curve.</p