Significance of serum neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 in melanoma.

Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 (NEDD9) is a promoter for various cellular functions that result in tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to analyse the serum levels of NEDD9 in melanoma patients in order to evaluate its prognostic, predictive and diagnostic value. Data from 112 melanoma patients were retrospectively analyzed and ELISA assays were used to measure serum NEDD9 concentration. The median serum NEDD9 levels of the patients were significantly higher compared with those of the controls. Serum NEDD9 was not found to be associated with any of the clinicopathological parameters, and was also not found to be prognostic for survival in melanoma. Therefore, serum NEDD9 may be of diagnostic value in melanoma, but its usefulness in prognosis remains controversial. The important role of NEDD9 in tumor angiogenesis necessitates efforts to elucidate its interactions with the tumor microenvironment and its potential as a therapeutic target for malignancies.