ERK1/2 and p-ERK in the different types of melanocytic lesions
| Melanocytic lesion | Total no. in each group | ERK1/2 | p-ERK | p-ERK % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | IRS | No. positive | % | IRS | p Value* | p Value† | ||
| Subcutaneous metastases included two cases in fibrous fat tissue and one case in skeletal muscle. | ||||||||
| Thick, melanoma >1.0 mm; thin, melanoma ⩽1.0 mm; %, mean percentage. | ||||||||
| *Student’s t test; †Tukey-Kramer test for multiple comparisons. | ||||||||
| CN, compound naevus; DN, dysplastic naevus; ERK, extracellular signal regulated kinase; IRS, immunoreactive score; LN, lymph node; p-ERK, activated extracellular signal regulated kinase; SC, subcutaneous. | ||||||||
| Compound naevus | 10 | 87.9 | 18.1 | 7/10 | 32.4 | 4.2 | CN v thick, <0.0001 | CN v thick, <0.0001 |
| Dysplastic naevus | 10 | 99.6 | 19.4 | 10/10 | 54.5 | 5.5 | DN v thick, <0.01 | – |
| Primary melanoma | ||||||||
| Melanoma ⩽1.0 mm | 18 | 98.9 | 24.5 | 18/18 | 64.6 | 15.7 | Thin v CN, 0.05 | – |
| Melanoma >1.0 mm | 24 | 84.1 | 17.2 | 24/24 | 77.1 | 14.8 | Thick v thin, 0.23 | Thick v LN, <0.005 |
| Radial growth phase | 14 | 98.7 | 24.7 | 14/14 | 61.7 | 15.4 | – | – |
| Vertical growth phase | 28 | 86.3 | 21.6 | 28/28 | 76.8 | 19.2 | – | – |
| Subcutaneous metastasis | 21 | 93.1 | 23.7 | 21/21 | 76.3 | 14.3 | SC v CN, <0.0005 | SC v CN, <0.001 |
| Lymph node metastasis | 17 | 88.7 | 17.1 | 15/17 | 48.5 | 9.0 | LN v thick, <0.005; LN v SC, <0.005 | – |