Type
Text
Type
Thesis
Advisor
Chen, Jiang | Takemaru, Ken-Ichi
Date
2015-12-01
Keywords
atypical melanocyte proliferation, biomarker, melanoma, primary cilia | Molecular biology
Department
Department of Biological Sciences.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76961
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Melanoma accounts for an overwhelming majority of mortality and morbidity from skin neoplasms. The aggressiveness of melanoma necessitates accurate and efficient diagnosis, which currently relies on analysis of histological samples by dermatopathologists as the gold standard. However, this gold standard allows for many uncertain diagnoses along with increased morbidity and even mortality. Recently, studies of primary cilia have shown their expression to be reduced in cutaneous malignancies, including melanoma. In a previous study, PC expression was markedly decreased in unambiguous lesions of melanoma compared to benign nevi, independent of other cell cycle variables. More recently it was demonstrated that the degree of graded cytologic severity in dysplastic nevi correlates with primary cilia loss. Building on these studies, the current study aimed to determine whether primary cilia expression in biopsy specimens could predict whether melanocytic lesions were benign nevi or melanoma based on their H&E diagnosis upon excision. Primary cilia were quantified in a biopsy and excision of the same lesion from 24 patients, and a model was built to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of the method. These results were compared to the Ki67 values for the same cohort of patients to assess the strengths of either method. Using the primary cilium as a biomarker, malignancy was able to be predicted from the biopsies with a sensitivity of 81.8% and a specificity of 80.0%. | 26 pages
Recommended Citation
Snedecor, Elizabeth R., "Primary cilia discriminate benign atypical nevi from thin melanoma" (2015). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 2829.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/2829