Use of monoclonal antibody HMB-45 in the cytologic diagnosis of melanoma.

The value of mouse monoclonal antibody (MAb) HMB-45 for the diagnosis of melanoma was retrospectively evaluated in cytologic preparations. Twenty-two (68.7%) of the 32 melanoma cases studied reacted with MAb HMB-45 while none of the 36 nonmelanoma tumors stained with this antibody. These results indicate that MAb HMB-45 can be helpful in the diagnosis of melanoma, especially in those patients who have no clinical indications of having a metastatic melanoma or in some cases in which the presence of melanin cannot be demonstrated by special histochemical stains.