Faculty Collaboration Database

Distinct Patterns of Acral Melanoma Based on Site and Relative Sun Exposure. J Invest Dermatol 2018 Feb;138(2):384-393

Date

09/06/2017

Pubmed ID

28870692

DOI

10.1016/j.jid.2017.08.022

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85041688404 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   43 Citations

Abstract

Acral melanoma is distinct from melanoma of other cutaneous sites, yet there is considerable variation within this category. To better define this variation, we assessed melanomas occurring on dorsal (n = 21), volar (n = 9), and subungual/interdigital (n = 13) acral skin as well as acral nevi (n = 24) for clinical, histologic, and molecular features. Melanomas on dorsal acral surfaces demonstrated clear differences compared with volar and subungual/interdigital melanomas. The latter two groups exhibited significantly less frequent BRAF mutations (P = 0.01), were significantly less likely to have the superficial spreading histologic subtype (P = 0.01), occurred in older patients (P = 0.05), and had more frequent involvement in non-Caucasians (P = 0.01). These differences can be explained by differing levels of UV exposure. Subungual/interdigital melanomas had the most diverse group of oncogenic mutations including PIK3CA (2/13), STK11 (2/13), EGFR (1/13), FGFR3 (1/13), and PTPN11 (1/13). In addition, subungual/interdigital melanomas had a significantly higher frequency of copy number aberrations (67%) than other subgroups (P = 0.02), particularly in CDK4 and cyclin D1, and were less likely to have BRAF mutations or a superficial spreading histologic subtype (P = 0.05) compared with volar acral melanomas. Although based on a limited sample size, differences between volar and subungual/interdigital melanomas in our study may be the result of differing levels of UV exposure.

Author List

Haugh AM, Zhang B, Quan VL, Garfield EM, Bubley JA, Kudalkar E, Verzi AE, Walton K, VandenBoom T, Merkel EA, Lee CY, Tan T, Isales MC, Kong BY, Wenzel AT, Bunick CG, Choi J, Sosman J, Gerami P

Author

Kara E. Young MD Associate Professor in the Dermatology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
DNA Copy Number Variations
DNA Mutational Analysis
Female
Foot
Genes, Tumor Suppressor
Hand
Humans
Male
Melanoma
Middle Aged
Mutation
Nevus
Oncogenes
Skin
Skin Neoplasms
Sunlight