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Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor and Tyrosinase as Markers of Melanoma Cells in Blood of Patients with Melanoma

Aim. To investigatewhether analysis of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) as an additionalmarker to tyrosinase in melanoma patients can improve the detection of circulating melanoma cells by reverse-transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Methods. Blood sampleswere taken from 33 patientswith metastatic melanoma.RNAwas isolated from mononuclear cell fraction of the blood and reversely transcribed into the complementary DNA (cDNA). The cDNA was assayed by PCR for the expression of tyrosinase andMITF. Peripheral blood samples from 15 healthy subjects were used as controls. Results. The threshold for detection of both tyrosinase and MITF was set low enough to detect 50melanoma cells in 10 mL of healthy volunteer blood in the relative ratio of one melanoma cell in 0.82x106 peripheral blood leukocytes.Out of 33 blood samples frommetastatic melanoma patients, 5were positive for both tyrosinase and MITF, 7 for tyrosinase only, and 5 for MITF only. All samples from healthy volunteers were negative for both tyrosinase and MITF. Conclusion. Determination ofMITFmarker in addition to tyrosinase improved the detection of circulatingmelanoma cells in patients with metastatic melanoma.

melanoma; monophenol monooxygenase; neoplasm circulating cells; neoplasm metastasis; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; tumor markers; biological

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