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Detection of melanoma cells in peripheral blood stem cell harvests of patients with progressive metastatic malignant melanoma
Dr Jens Atzpodien Department of Haematology and Oncology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, D-30623 Hannover, Germany.
Abstract
The detection of melanocyte-specific messenger RNA in patients with malignant melanoma suggests the potential contamination of peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvests by neoplastic cells. In this study, the melanocyte-specific transcripts of tyrosinase and Melan-A/MART-1 were used to detect neoplastic cells in PBSC harvests of nine metastatic malignant melanoma patients. Only one patient’s PBSC harvest tested positive for tyrosinase. All harvests were negative for Melan-A/MART-1. Our results suggest that contamination of PBSC harvests with neoplastic cells may not contribute to disease progression following high-dose chemotherapy in advanced malignant melanoma.
