Korean J Dermatol.  2001 Aug;39(8):878-882.

MART-1 Expression in Malignant Melanoma and Benign Melanocytic Nevi

• Choe SH
• Lee MG
• Cho SH
• Lee JH
• Park HJ
• Cinn YW
• Kim YC

Abstract

BACKGROUND: MART-1(melanoma antigen recognized by T cell) is a well-known marker for malignant melanoma. Its immunoreactivity is also expressed in other melanocytic lineage.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose is to evaluate the usefulness of MART-1 in the diagnosis of malignant melanoma.
METHODS
MART-1 immunostaining was performed in 26 cases of malignant melanoma and 12 cases of benign melanocytic nevi. HMB-45 immunostaining was performed in 26 cases of malignant melanoma.
RESULTS
1. Eighteen of 26 melanomas(69%) and 10 of 12 benign melanocytic nevi(83%) showed reactivity with MART-1. 2. HMB-45 showed a higher sensitivity(85%) than that of MART-1 in the staining of malignant melanoma. 3. Two of 5 HMB-45-negative melanomas were immunoreactive with MART-1, and 2 of 7 MART-1-negative melanomas were reactive with HMB-45.
CONCLUSION
MART-1 immunostaining is not helpful to differentiate malignant melanoma from benign melanocytic nevi. MART-1 was immunoreactive to some cases of HMB-45 negative malignant melanoma. MART-1, together with S-100 protein and HMB-45, is another useful marker of malignant melanoma.

Keyword

MART-1; Malignant melanoma; Benign melanocytic nevi

MeSH Terms

Diagnosis
Melanoma*
Nevus, Pigmented*
S100 Proteins
S100 Proteins