The role of vascular mimicry as a biomarker in malignant melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundVasculogenic mimicry (VM) a microvascular system consisting of non-endothelial cells that is newly formed by aggressive tumors, has been proposed as an important therapeutic target in malignant melanoma (MM). We performed a systematic literature review to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of VM status for overall survival of MM patients.MethodsThe quality of the included studies was evaluated using the QUADAS-2 tool. Diagnostic capacity of VM variables, including sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC), were pooled using Meta-DiSc software.ResultsA retrospective observational study was conducted based on twelve clinical studies including 978 clinically confirmed melanoma patients with proportion (P). VM+ melanoma cells were associated with poor prognosis in 38% of MM group (P = 0.35, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.27–0.42, p < 0.001). The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.82 (95% CI: 0.79–0.84) and 0.69 (95% CI: 0.66–0.71), respectively. Furthermore, the pooled PLR, NLR, and DOR were 2.56 (95% CI: 1.94–3.93), 0.17 (95% CI: 0.07–0.42), and 17.75 (95% CI: 5.30–59.44), respectively. Furthermore, the AUC of SROC was 0.63, indicating high reliability of VM status as a biomarker. Importantly, subgroup results suggested that VM+ status is a significantly accurate prognostic biomarker when diagnosed by the CD31−/PAS+ staining methods in Asian MM samples (p < 0.001).ConclusionsOur findings support the potential of VM status of tumors as a promising prognostic biomarker and emphasize an effective adjuvant therapeutic strategy in the prognosis of Asian MM patients.

Vasculogenic Mimicry: A Promising Prognosticator in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Esophageal Cancer? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In two recent meta-analysis studies, VM was associated with a more aggressive tumor phenotype and poor prognosis in patients with breast and gastric cancers [33,34]. In addition, Zhang et al reported that VM status can serve as a promising prognostic biomarker in the prognosis of malignant melanoma patients [35]. In the same direction, another recent meta-analysis showed that positive VM was a reliable indicator of poor prognosis in digestive cancer patients [36].…”

Tumor Vessels Fuel the Fire in Glioblastoma

“…However, VE-cadherin and EphA2 are expressed at higher levels in VM-positive glioma and were found required for VM network formation, especially under hypoxic conditions [ 112 ]. A meta-analysis of VM samples suggested that the most accurate method relies on CD31-/PAS+ rather than CD34-/PAS+ [ 113 ]. Moreover, VM might be of two kinds: a tubular type characterized by tumor cells lining the vessel-like structures, and a patterned matrix-type of secreting matrix proteins [ 111 , 114 , 115 ].…”

Comparative mRNA/micro-RNA co-expression network drives melanomagenesis by promoting epithelial–mesenchymal transition and vasculogenic mimicry signaling

“…Thus, various research groups have investigated the genetic risk factors of MM with the aim to identify genes associated with the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) network and, tumor cell vasculogenic mimicry (VM) [3] . EMT is defined as the process wherein epithelial cells lose the apical-basal polarity and cell-cell adhesion and transition to invasive mesenchymal cells, which can promote melanoma cell progression and metastasis [4] .…”