Expression of Estrogen Receptor alpha in Malignant Melanoma

Background: Considering that the feature of malignant melanoma (MM) in different regions is varies due to environmental, ethnic and genetic factors and reported different sex distribution of malignant melanoma in two studies in Iran, so the aim of this study was to determine the expression of estrogen receptor alpha in malignant melanoma cases in Isfahan-Iran. Material and Methods: This study was planned as a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional. During this study, paraffin-embedded tissues blocks of patients with histopathologic diagnosis of malignant melanoma studied for estrogen receptor alpha using immunohistochemistry. Results: In this study 38 patients (female/male; 20/18) with definite diagnosis of malignant cutaneous melanoma and mean age of 52.4 +/- 11.2 was studied. Using envision IHC staining there were not any cases with ERα expression. Conclusion: In confirmation to previous studies expression of estrogen receptor alpha was negative in malignant melanoma.It is recommended to investigate the expression of estrogen receptor beta and other markers in malignant melanoma

Keywords:

Melanoma , estrogen receptor alpha , Immunohistochemistry