Nathaniel B. Goldstein, Andrea Steel, Landon Tomb, Zachary Berk, Junxiao Hu, Velmurugan Balaya, Laura Hoaglin, Kavya Ganuthula, Meet Patel, Erica Mbika, William A. Robinson, Dennis R. Roop, David A. Norris, Stanca A. Birlea
{"title":"Vitiligo non-responding lesions to narrow band UVB have intriguing cellular and molecular abnormalities that may prevent epidermal repigmentation","authors":"Nathaniel B. Goldstein, Andrea Steel, Landon Tomb, Zachary Berk, Junxiao Hu, Velmurugan Balaya, Laura Hoaglin, Kavya Ganuthula, Meet Patel, Erica Mbika, William A. Robinson, Dennis R. Roop, David A. Norris, Stanca A. Birlea","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13160","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13160","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We have discovered that human vitiligo patients treated with narrow-band UVB (NBUVB) demonstrated localized resistance to repigmentation in skin sites characterized by distinct cellular and molecular pathways. Using immunostaining studies, discovery-stage RNA-Seq analysis, and confirmatory in situ hybridization, we analyzed paired biopsies collected from vitiligo lesions that did not repigment after 6 months of NBUVB treatment (non-responding) and compared them with repigmented (responding) lesions from the same patient. Non-responding lesions exhibited acanthotic epidermis, had low number of total, proliferative, and differentiated melanocyte (MC) populations, and increased number of senescent keratinocytes (KCs) and of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells as compared with responding lesions. The abnormal response in the non-responding lesions was driven by a dysregulated cAMP pathway and of upstream activator PDE4B, and of WNT/β-catenin repigmentation pathway. Vitiligo-responding lesions expressed high levels of WNT10B ligand, a molecule that may prevent epidermal senescence induced by NBUVB, and that in cultured melanoblasts prevented the pro-melanogenic effect of α-MSH. Understanding the pathways that govern lack of NBUVB-induced vitiligo repigmentation has a great promise in guiding the development of new therapeutic strategies for vitiligo.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"378-390"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139720936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 20th International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13152","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13152","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 1","pages":"90-226"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139424167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amit Shachaf, Kevin Manbeck, Guang Yang, Catherine Shachaf
{"title":"Molecular skin fluorescence imaging: A tool for evaluating early melanoma development","authors":"Amit Shachaf, Kevin Manbeck, Guang Yang, Catherine Shachaf","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13159","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13159","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A novel approach to melanoma diagnosis—in vivo molecular skin fluorescence imaging (mSFI)—was developed to identify premalignant changes in the form of tissue remodeling related to melanoma development in humans by imaging the proximal microenvironment of lesions. The method was tested using a fluorescent peptide (ORL-1) which binds to αvβ3 integrin, a molecule associated with invasive melanoma development. A cut off score of 7 was established, differentiating melanomas from nonmelanoma nevi with 100% sensitivity, and 95.7% specificity, while identifying dysplastic nevi with the potential for melanoma development.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"372-377"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13159","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139097010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comprehensive molecular findings in primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus: A multicenter study","authors":"Ling Deng, Hai-Yun Wang, Chun-Fang Hu, Xiao-Yun Liu, Kuntai Jiang, Juan-Juan Yong, Xiao-Yan Wu, Kai-Hua Guo, Fang Wang","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13157","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13157","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is an extremely rare but highly aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. Due to the scarcity of driver gene alterations, there is a need for more clinical data to comprehensively depict its molecular alterations. This study reviewed 26 PMME cases from three medical centers. Hybrid capture-based targeted sequencing of 295 and 1021 genes was performed in 14 and 12 cases, respectively. We found that PMME patients had a relatively low tumor mutation burden (median, 2.88 mutations per Mb) and were simultaneously accompanied by mutations in genes such as <i>KIT</i> (6/26, 23%), <i>TP53</i> (6/26, 23%), <i>SF3B1</i> (4/26, 15%), and <i>NRAS</i> (3/26, 12%). <i>KIT</i>, <i>NRAS</i>, and <i>BRAF</i> were mutually exclusive, and <i>SF3B1</i> co-occurred with <i>KIT</i> mutation and amplification. The most common pathways affected were the mitogen-activated protein kinases and DNA damage response (DDR) pathways. Stage IV was a risk factor for both progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32–19.91) and overall survival (OS), HR = 4.33, 95% CI = 1.22–15.30). Treatment with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) was an independent factor for favorable OS (HR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.01–0.91). Overall, PMME is a complex malignancy with diverse gene alterations, especially with harboring DDR alterations for potentially response from ICIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"363-371"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13157","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139072803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrea Agüera-Lorente, Ainhoa Alonso-Pardavila, María Larrinaga, María Dolores Boyano, Esperanza González, Juan Manuel Falcón-Pérez, Aintzane Asumendi, Aintzane Apraiz
{"title":"Small extracellular vesicle-based human melanocyte and melanoma signature","authors":"Andrea Agüera-Lorente, Ainhoa Alonso-Pardavila, María Larrinaga, María Dolores Boyano, Esperanza González, Juan Manuel Falcón-Pérez, Aintzane Asumendi, Aintzane Apraiz","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13158","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13158","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Intercellular communication is a cell-type and stimulus-dependent event driven not only by soluble factors but also by extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs include vesicles of different size and origin that contain a myriad of molecules. Among them, small EVs (sEV; <200 nm) have been shown to modulate not just regional cell responses but also distant organ behavior. In cancer, distant organ modulation by sEVs has been associated to disease dissemination, which is one of the main concerns in melanoma. Description of broadly conserved alterations in sEV-contained molecules represents a strategy to identify key modifications in cellular communication as well as new disease biomarkers. Here, we characterize proteomes of cutaneous melanocyte and melanoma-derived sEVs to deepen on the landscape of normal and disease-related cell communication. Results reveal the presence of unique protein signatures for melanocytes and melanoma cells that reflect cellular transformation-related profound modifications. Melanocyte-derived sEVs are enriched in oxidative metabolism (e.g., aconitase 2, ACO2) or pigmentation (e.g., tyrosinase, TYR) related proteins while melanoma-derived sEVs reflect a generalized decrease in mature melanocytic markers (e.g., melanoma antigen recognized by T-cells 1, MART-1, also known as MLANA) and an increase in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related adhesion molecules such as tenascin C (TNC).</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 5","pages":"569-582"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13158","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139072804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viktoria Rydén, Ali Inan El-Naggar, Anthoula Koliadi, Cecilia Olsson Ladjevardi, Evangelos Digkas, Antonios Valachis, Gustav J. Ullenhag
{"title":"The role of dacarbazine and temozolomide therapy after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in malignant melanoma patients: A case series and meta-analysis","authors":"Viktoria Rydén, Ali Inan El-Naggar, Anthoula Koliadi, Cecilia Olsson Ladjevardi, Evangelos Digkas, Antonios Valachis, Gustav J. Ullenhag","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13156","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13156","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dacarbazine (DTIC) and its oral counterpart temozolomide (TMZ) have been the most used agents in advanced malignant melanoma (MM) patients and they are still used routinely. The preferred first line treatment, immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) might shape the tumor and the tumor microenvironment, possibly affecting the response to subsequent therapies. The aim of this study was to investigate the treatment effect of DTIC/TMZ in MM patients after CPI therapy in a consecutive patient cohort and through systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Thirty-five patients with advanced MM treated with DTIC/TMZ after previous CPI therapy in three Swedish regions between 2017 and 2021 were recognized and seven case series studies were identified through systematic database review. Pooled data from all 345 patients showed a median real-world progression-free survival (rwPFS) of 1.9 months and overall survival (OS) of 6.0 months. Three of these studies were included in a meta-analysis comparing DTIC/TMZ after CPI treatment, versus no previous immunotherapy, showing no statistically significant differences in rwPFS or OS but higher real-world response rate to chemotherapy for the prior-CPI treated group (Odds Ratio: 2.24; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.04–4.86). The current study supports consideration of DTIC/TMZ in later line of treatment in the immunotherapy era.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"352-362"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13156","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139072809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinical, histological, and molecular differences in melanoma due to different TERT promoter mutations subtypes. A retrospective cross-sectional study in 684 melanoma patients","authors":"Esperanza Manrique-Silva, Millán-Esteban David, Aguerralde-Martin Maider, Zaida García-Casado, Ruggero Moro, Celia Requena, Victor Través, Amaya Virós, Rajiv Kumar, Eduardo Nagore","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13155","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13155","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Differences in survival according to the <i>pTERT</i> mutation subtypes (−124C > T, −146C > T, and tandem −138_139CC > TT) have been observed. The present study aimed to describe the clinical as the histopathological and molecular cutaneous melanoma features according to the presence of the three most prevalent <i>pTERT</i> mutation subtypes (−124C > T, −146C > T, and tandem −138_139CC > TT). A retrospective cross-sectional study including 684 patients was designed, and a Partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) was performed. After the PSL-DA, it was observed that the tandem −138_139CC > TT subtype differs from the other subtypes. The model demonstrated that the −124C > T and the −138_139 CC > TT subtypes were associated with fast-growing melanomas (OR 0.5, CI 0.29–0.86, <i>p</i> = .012) and with Breslow >2 mm (OR 0.6, CI 0.37–0.97, <i>p</i> = .037), compared to the −146C > T mutation. Finally, the −124C > T appeared to be more associated with the presence of TILs (non-brisk) than the −146C > T (OR 0.6, CI 0.40–1.01, <i>p</i> = .05). These findings confirmed that the −124C > T and the tandem −138_139 CC > TT subtypes are both highly associated with the presence of features of aggressiveness; however, only the −124C > T was highly associated with TILs. This difference could explain the worse survival rate associated with the tandem −138_139CC > TT mutations.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"343-351"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139047913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Overview of current melanoma therapies","authors":"Anna Fateeva, Kevinn Eddy, Suzie Chen","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13154","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13154","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer and is responsible for the majority of deaths from skin cancer. Therapeutic advances in the last few decades, notably the development of novel targeted therapies and immunotherapies have significantly improved patient outcomes; nonetheless, these options remain limited due to the onset of resistance to treatment modalities and relapse. In this review, we focus on the available therapeutic options, their benefits, and limitations.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 5","pages":"562-568"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13154","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138563761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Myron Gordon Award Lecture 2023: Painting the neural crest: How studying pigment cells illuminates neural crest cell biology","authors":"Robert N. Kelsh","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13147","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13147","url":null,"abstract":"<p>It has been 30 (!!) years since I began working on zebrafish pigment cells, as a postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. There, I participated in the first large-scale mutagenesis screen in zebrafish, focusing on pigment cell mutant phenotypes. The isolation of <i>colourless</i>, <i>shady</i>, <i>parade</i> and <i>choker</i> mutants allowed us (as a postdoc in Prof. Judith Eisen's laboratory, and then in my own laboratory at the University of Bath since 1997) to pursue my ambition to address long-standing problems in the neural crest field. Thus, we have studied how neural crest cells choose individual fates, resulting in our recent proposal of a new, and potentially unifying, model which we call Cyclical Fate Restriction, as well as addressing how pigment cell patterns are generated. A key feature of our work in the last 10 years has been the use of mathematical modelling approaches to clarify our biological models and to refine our interpretations. None of this would have been possible without a hugely talented group of laboratory members and other collaborators from around the world—it has been, and I am sure will continue to be, a pleasure and privilege to work with you all!</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 5","pages":"555-561"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pcmr.13147","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138443318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Risk factors for sentinel lymph node metastasis in Korean acral and non-acral melanoma patients","authors":"Jee Yong Song, Young Jae Ryu, Ho Kyun Lee, Dong Hoon Lee, Yoo Duk Choi, Hyun Jeong Shim, Sook Jung Yun","doi":"10.1111/pcmr.13153","DOIUrl":"10.1111/pcmr.13153","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Breslow thickness, ulceration, and mitotic rate are well-known prognostic factors for sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis in cutaneous melanoma. We investigated risk factors, including especially the degree of pigmentation, for SLN metastasis in Korean melanoma patients. We enrolled 158, composed of Korean 107 acral and 51 non-acral melanoma patients who underwent SLN biopsy. Clinicopathologic features such as Breslow thickness, ulceration, mitotic rate, and the degree of pigmentation were evaluated. The recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate and date of recurrence were determined. Fifty-four patients (34.2%) had a positive SLN biopsy result. In a multivariate analysis, Breslow thickness (odds ratio [OR] 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–3.47; <i>p</i> = .022) and heavy pigmentation (OR 13.14; 95% CI, 2.96–95.20, <i>p</i> = .002) were associated with SLN metastasis. Positive SLN patients had a higher rate of loco-regional and/or distant recurrence (hazard ratio 6.32; 95% CI, 3.39–11.79; <i>p</i> < .001). Heavy pigmentation was associated with poor RFS. Heavy pigmentation is an independent predictor of SLN metastasis in both acral and non-acral melanoma. Our results suggest the need for in-depth SLN evaluation of cutaneous melanoma patients with heavy pigmentation and provide clinicians with important information for determining patient prognosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":219,"journal":{"name":"Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research","volume":"37 3","pages":"332-342"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138443319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}