RESEARCH Open Access

MEMD) expression in cutaneous melanoma patients Piotr Donizy1*†, Marcin Zietek2†, Agnieszka Halon1, Marek Leskiewicz3, Cyprian Kozyra3 and Rafal Matkowski2,4 Background: ALCAM (activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule, CD166, MEMD) is a transmembrane protein of immunoglobulin superfamily (Ig-SF) and plays an important role in human malignant melanoma progression and formation of locoregional and distant metastases. The study using melanoma cell lines showed that overexpression of ALCAM is directly related with the increase of cytoaggregation and the ability to form cell nests. The aim of the study was to assess the expression and intracellular localization of ALCAM in primary skin melanomas and metastatic lesions from regional lymph nodes. Also, prognostic significance of ALCAM expression in primary tumor cells and metastatic lesion cells was evaluated in the context of 5-year observation. Methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 104 primary cutaneous melanomas and 16 regional lymph nodes metastases were studied for the expression of ALCAM measured by immunohistochemistry. Results: We demonstrate that high ALCAM expression in primary melanoma cells (IRS ≥8) is strongly correlated with unfavorable prognosis as compared with patients with lower ALCAM immunoreactivity in tumor compartmen