Trial Information

Molecular Prognostic Factor Analysis in Melanoma

OBJECTIVES:

- To validate the prognostic role of several biomarkers suggested by gene expression
profiling and tissue microarray (TMA) studies (e.g., NCOA3, SPP1, and RGS1) on the
outcome associated with melanoma in the EST-1690 cohort using IHC analysis.

- To examine the potential predictive role of such biomarkers in patients undergoing
adjuvant interferon alfa therapy.

- To analyze the correlation between the intensity of biomarker expression and survival
of this cohort both in the observation and in the interferon-treated groups.

- To examine the prognostic role of these biomarkers on the outcome associated with
melanoma in the EST-1690 cohort using quantitative-PCR.

- To isolate RNA from the primary specimens from patients enrolled in the EST-1690 cohort
to assess the expression of genes suggested by cDNA microarray and IHC analyses (e.g.,
NCOA3, SPP1, and RGS1) as prognostic or predictive markers.

OUTLINE: Samples from the EST-1690 cohort are obtained and analyzed for several biomarkers
(i.e., NCOA3, SPP1, and RGS1) via immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR. RNA is isolated
from the specimens to assess gene expression via quantitative PCR.