WT1 marker is not sufficient for distinguishing between melanoma and melanocytic nevi

Background The heterogeneous histological features of melanoma may often overlap with melanocytic nevi. For this reason, pathologists have sought after immunohistochemistry to assist with difficult cases. Recently, Wilms' tumor 1 protein (WT1) has been suggested to differentiate between melanoma and melanocytic nevi. Objective Our objective was to determine whether immunohistochemistry analysis of WT1 expression is a reliable tool in differentiating cutaneous melanoma from melanocytic nevi. Methods Forty-five melanoma and 43 melanocytic nevi were immunostained with anti-WT1 monoclonal antibody (clone 6F-H2). Results Forty of the 45 cutaneous melanoma (89%) and 22 of the 43 melanocytic nevi (51%) stained (> 10% cells) for WT1. The highest sensitivity for WT1 was expressed by nodular melanoma (19/20), superficial spreading melanoma (8/10) and Spitz nevi (9/11). At the threshold of above 75% WT1-stained cells, the specificity for melanoma was 95% but the sensitivity was only 31%. At the threshold of 10%, the sensitivity increased to 89% but the specificity decreased to only 49%. Finally, at the threshold of 25% and 50%, the sensitivity and specificity were 71%, 61% and 64%, 77%, respectively. Conclusions Our data suggest that melanoma is associated with increased WT1 expression. However, as a single immunostaining marker, WT1 is not sufficient for distinguishing melanoma from melanocytic nevi. Rosner K, Mehregan DR, Moussai D, Abrams J, Tromp G, Mehregan DA. WT1 marker is not sufficient for distinguishing between melanoma and melanocytic nevi.