Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule/CD166, a Marker of Tumor Progression in Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Skin

Abstract

Expression of activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM)/CD166 correlates with the aggregation and metastatic capacity of human melanoma cell lines (Am J Pathol 1998, 152:805-813). Immunohistochemistry on a series of human melanocytic lesions reveals that ALCAM expression correlates with melanoma progression. Most nevi (34/38) and all thin melanomas studied (Clark levels I and II) did not express ALCAM. In contrast, immunoreactivity was detected in the invasive, vertical growth phase of 2 of the 13 Clark level III lesions tested. The fraction of positive lesions further increased in Clark level IV (13/19) and in Clark level V (4/4) lesions. ALCAM expression was exclusively detectable in the vertical growth phase of the primary tumor. In melanoma metastases, approximately half of the lesions tested (13/28) were ALCAM positive. According to the Breslow-thickness, ALCAM expression was observed in less than 10% of the lesions that were thinner than 1.5 mm and in over 70% of the lesions that were thicker than 1.5 mm. Our results strongly suggest that ALCAM plays an important role in melanocytic tumor progression and depict it as a new molecular marker for neoplastic progression of primary human melanoma.

Increased expression of stem cell markers in malignant melanoma

“…12 Similar to our findings, nevi, when positive, showed staining limited to the junctional component or nevic nests in the superficial papillary dermis. The authors speculate that CD166 plays an important role in melanoma cell invasion and melanoma progression.…”

miR-483-5p Promotes Invasion and Metastasis of Lung Adenocarcinoma by Targeting RhoGDI1 and ALCAM

“…It has been implicated in pathologic states, such as cancer metastasis, but its role remains inconsistent. ALCAM was found to be upregulated in melanoma, colon cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and gastric cancer and plays a role in promoting motility and migration (40)(41)(42)(43). In prostate carcinoma, ALCAM was upregulated in low-grade tumors, but downregulated in high-grade tumors (44).…”

Loss of ALCAM expression is linked to adverse phenotype and poor prognosis in breast cancer: A TMA-based immunohistochemical study on 2,197 breast cancer patients

“…The initial studies that identified a role for ALCAM in human malignancies were performed in melanoma (4,5). Over the last decade, alterations in ALCAM expression have been described in several other malignancies including bladder (6), colorectal (7), esophageal squamous cell (8), pancreatic (9), oral squamous cell (10) and ovarian cancer (11), neuroblastoma (12), prostate (13) and breast cancer (14,15).…”