Purpose: Circulating melanoma cells can be detected in peripheral blood by means of
tyrosinase mRNA amplification by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-
PCR). We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the clinical significance of the
presence of circulating neoplastic cells in the blood of patients with malignant melanoma
(MM). Methods: A sensitive RT-PCR assay was used to detect tyrosinase mRNA in the
peripheral blood of patients with stages I to IV melanoma. Healthy subjects or patients with …

Background Circulating melanocytes can be detected in peripheral blood of patients with
malignant melanoma by means of tyrosinase messenger RNA amplification. In this study we
especially examined peripheral blood from patients with stage II melanoma before and after
lymph node dissection for the detection of these circulating melanoma cells. Indeed the
presence of regional nodal metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors in
patients with cutaneous melanoma.