MATERIALS AND METHODS FOR DIAGNOSING MALIGNANT MELANOMA AND PROGNOSING METASTASIS OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide methods for diagnosing malignant melanoma in a patient and methods for prognosing metastasis thereof.SOLUTION: The invention provides a method for determining the copy number of RREB1, CCND1 and/or CDKN2A in a tumor sample derived from a patient for prognosing metastasis of atypical Spitz tumor in the patient, where (i) increase in copy number of RREB1 and/or (ii) increase in copy number of CCND1, or (iii) homozygous deletion of CDKN2A, indicates a possibility of malignant metastasis. In an embodiment of the method, the copy numbers of RREB1, CCND1 and/or CDKN2A is determined by in situ hybridization, preferably by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH).SELECTED DRAWING: None