Oestrogen receptor beta and melanoma: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Oncological research has focused on evaluating oestrogen receptors (ERs) in oestrogen-related tumours, and understanding the potential role of ERs in the pathophysiology of cancer. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the significance of oestrogen receptor beta (ERß) in melanoma. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated ERß expression in malignant melanoma (MM) tissue and adjacent healthy skin by quantitative immunohistochemistry at the Department of Dermatology of the University of Florence, from 1998 to 2010. RESULTS: ERß was detected with varying staining intensity in the 66 malignant melanocytic lesions. After adjusting for age and sex, we found that ERß expression was significantly lower in melanoma tissue compared with adjacent healthy skin (P < 0·0001). We also found significantly lower ERß levels in thick melanoma tissue compared with thin melanoma tissue. In addition, there was a positive association between Breslow thickness and the difference of ERß expression between healthy tissue and melanoma tissue (P = 0·0004). Consistent with sex differences in melanoma survival, men showed significantly lower levels of ERß than women in both melanoma (P = 0·05) and healthy tissues (P = 0·02). CONCLUSIONS: ERß expression is inversely associated with Breslow thickness and is significantly influenced by sex in MM.