CLINICAL USEFULNESS OF IMMUNOSTAINING WITH CEA IN DISTINCTION BETWEEN MALIGNANT MELANOMA AND SPITZ NEVUS

Background: Malignant melanoma (MM) is one of the most fatal cancers in the field of dermatology. On the other hand, Spitz Nevi (SN) is a benign tumor of melanocytes. Prognosis of these neoplastic tumors is completely different, but their histopathological findings are very similar. CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) is one of the most familiar tumor markers in colon cancer. But it has been found to be expressed in many diseases and various tissues. In human skin, CEA is expressed in sebaceous glands and sweat glands. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of CEA in MM and SN. Materials and Methods: Six-teen tissues of MM and Eleven tissues of SN were immunohistochemically stained with polyclonal antibody against CEA. Results: Strong positive staining was observed in MMs, on the other hand, we could not observe strong staining in SN. We suggest that immunohistochemical staining of CEA may distinguish MM from SN.