Local hormonal status of tumor and adjacent tissues in patients with melanoma depending on their gender.

Abstract

e22084 Background: Gender is an important independent prognostic factor for cutaneous melanoma incidence, and survival in women is better. The purpose of the study was to determine the content of sex steroids and prolactin in tumor, perifocal and resection line tissues in male and female patients with melanoma. Methods: The study included 13 men and 22 women with cutaneous melanoma (M) pT1-2N0M0. Levels of free testosterone (fT), estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), progesterone and prolactin were measured by ELISA in M, perifocal (P) and resection line (RL) tissues after surgical treatment. The average age of patients was in men 54±3.56 years (median age 53, 32-81), in women 65±2.67 years (median age 63, 39-82). Skin tissues obtained from 20 non-cancer patients after plastic surgery served as the control. Results: In M of women, levels of fT, E2 and E1 were elevated on average by 1.3 times, while in men fT was decreased by 1.7 times, and estrogens were increased – E2 by 1.7 and E1 by 3.7 times, compared to the corresponding control levels. In women, fT in P tissues was increased by 1.6 times, while parameters in RL were similar to control values. In men, fT in P and RL tissues was decreased by 3.8 and 2.3 times respectively, and E2 was increased by 1.6 and 1.3 times respectively. E1 in P tissues was decreased by 1.7 times, in RL – similar to control levels. Conclusions: M in patients of both genders has an altered hormonal profile characterized by hyperestrogenia, with the prevalence of E1 and androgen deficiency in men. The expansion of the “tumor field” due to changes in the hormonal profile of P and even RL tissues was established only in male patients with the same morphological prevalence of the process, which may be one of the reasons for the more aggressive tumor course.