Immunohistochemical determination of HER-2/neu, c-Kit (CD117), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) overexpression in malignant melanoma

Purpose. To determine the prevalence and evaluate the possible prognostic value of the molecular targets in malignant melanoma, we studied the overexpression of HER-2/neu, c-Kit, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in this patient population. Materials and methods. Overexpression of HER-2/neu, c-Kit, and VEGF was evaluated using immunohistochemical assays in 202 archival tissue specimens. Results. Only two patients (0.9%) revealed HER-2/neu overexpression, whereas 46 (22.8%) revealed c-Kit and 42 (20.8%) specimens showed VEGF overexpression. Multivariate analysis performed did not show a significant difference in survival between c-Kit-positive and c-Kit-negative groups (P=0.36) and VEGF-positive and VEGF-negative groups (P=0.25). Interestingly, c-Kit was more likely to be overexpressed in the superficial spreading type and VEGF was overexpressed preferentially in the amelanotic melanoma type. Conclusions. HER-2/neu has no role in melanogenesis. Both c-Kit (expressed in superficial spreading disease) and VEGF (expressed in amelanotic melanoma) may have significant therapeutic implications as molecular targets, which warrants further investigation.