Abstract
In some human malignancies resistance to chemotherapy is caused by an energy-dependent efflux system, responsible for the removal of chemotherapeutics out of the resistant tumor cells. A major component of this efflux system is the permeability glycoprotein (p-glycoprotein), which depends on the multidrug-resistance geneMDR1.
We have tested p-glycoprotein in primary and metastatic human melanoma by use of the monoclonal antibody C219; a substantial expression was only observed in 1/37 primary melanomas and in 1/27 melanoma metastases. None of the patients with negative metastases responded to chemotherapy. Moreover a complete remission of metastasic growth was observed in the patient with the metastasis significantly expressing the p-glycoprotein. Sequential studies revealed no significant increase of p-glycoprotein-positive cells during and after chemotherapy. We conclude that drug resistance in human melanoma does not usually depend on the p-glycoprotein-related efflux system. Other mechanisms are obviously responsible for drug resistance in this human malignancy.
Key words: Melanoma, Multidrug resistance, Permeability glycoprotein
Footnotes
This work was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe (grant M 55/85/Su1)
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