Myeloid leukemia-1 expression in benign and malignant melanocytic lesions.

Myeloid leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) is an anti-apoptotic protein implicated in tumor progression. Its expression was found to be elevated in many types of human cancers and is correlated with tumor progression. The expression of Mcl-1 in melanoma is not fully understood. We investigated the expression of Mcl-1 in normal nevi, dysplastic nevi, primary melanoma and melanoma metastases by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. We found that Mcl-1 expression was significantly increased in dysplastic nevi, primary melanoma and melanoma metastases when compared to normal nevi, though the expression of Mcl-1 was decreased in metastatic melanoma when compared to dysplastic nevi. We did not find any correlation between Mcl-1 expression and melanoma patient survival. Our data suggest that Mcl-1 may play a critical role in the initiation of melanoma development.