CD271 is expressed in melanomas with more aggressive behaviour, with correlation of characteristic morphology by in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy

Background Melanoma is the most highly aggressive type of skin cancer. Its resistance to existing treatments and the rapid rise in incidence underscore the importance of acquiring a better understanding of melanomagenesis. Objectives To assess the impact of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) on the description of cell morphology, which may influence the growth pattern and changes with increasing tumour severity, correlating with biological aspects. Methods A retrospective analysis of 30 primary melanomas in vivo, evaluated by RCM, to correlate cell morphology and cellular arrangement with a marker of melanoma progression (CD271) using immunohistochemical evaluations. Results Typical cells organized in dermal nests with peculiar in vivo confocal morphology result in melanoma with high malignancy and positivity to CD271. This architecture might be due to the presence of a type of cells, intrinsically predisposed to invasion, as a result of dedifferentiation programming, revealed by expression of the neural crest marker CD271. Conclusions With the hypothesis that dedifferentiated cells would be strongly responsible for initiation of tumour development and progression, we propose that CD271 detection could be associated with RCM evaluation in order to detect more aggressive melanoma subtypes.