Expression and clinical significance of pepsinogen C in uveal melanomas

PURPOSE: we investigated by immunohistochemistry the pepsinogen C (pepC) expression in uveal melanomas and analyzed the possible relationship to clinicopathological parameters and prognostic significance. METHODS: We studied 22 patients who had undergone enucleation of the eyeball or local tumor resection for uveal melanoma. The specimens were immunostained for pepC on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections. Sex, age, tumor location, histological type, local invasion, postoperative treatment and metastasis were evaluated. RESULTS: Eleven tumors (50%) were positive for pepsinogen C. The percentage of pepC-positive tumors was significantly higher in uveal melanomas with scleral invasion than in those without scleral invasion (p < 0.01). PepC expression was significantly associated with a shortened overall survival (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that pepsinogen C may be expressed by uveal melanoma and suggest that this protein could be considered as a new, unfavorable prognostic factor in these tumors.