Optimizing Detection of Lymphatic Invasion in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma With the Use of D2-40 and a Paired Melanocytic Marker

Abstract

Dual immunohistochemical (IHC) staining with D2-40 and S100 improves detection of lymphatic invasion (LI) in primary cutaneous melanoma. However, limited data exist evaluating this technique using other melanocytic markers, and thus, the optimal marker for detection of LI is unestablished. To address this knowledge gap, a case-control study was performed comparing melanoma specimens from 22 patients with known lymphatic spread (LS) with a control group of 11 patients without LS. Specimens underwent dual IHC staining with D2-40 and MART-1, SOX-10, and S100 to evaluate for LI. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate each stain's accuracy for detection of LI. The LS group was more likely to be ≥65 years (P = 0.04), have a tumor thickness of ≥1 mm (P < 0.01), and have ulcerated tumors (P = 0.02). Detection of LI with D2-40/MART-1 significantly correlated with LS (P = 0.03), and the D2-40/MART-1 stain was most accurate for LI based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (area under the curve [AUC] 0.705) in comparison with D2-40/SOX-10 (AUC 0.575) and D2-40/S100 (AUC 0.633). These findings suggest that MART-1 may be the optimal melanocytic marker to combine with D2-40 for detection of LI in melanoma. Further studies are needed to determine the utility of routinely performing these stains for histopathologic analysis of melanoma.