A Subset of Cutaneous Melanoma Express Oncofetal Cripto-1 Protein: Correlation of Histopathology and Prognosis

Abstract

Objective: Melanoma has a poor prognosis in advanced stages. The study aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of Cripto-1 (CR-1) and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters in cutaneous melanoma cases.

Methods: Cutaneous melanoma cases diagnosed at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty between January 2016 and January 2023 were searched from the digital system. Immunohistochemical CR-1 stain was applied to all cases, and the results were compared with clinicopathological parameters.

Results: A total of 78 cutaneous melanoma cases diagnosed between January 2016 and January 2023 were included in the study. CR-1 expression was observed in melanoma cells in 9% (n = 7) of the cases. Although statistically insignificant, CR-1-positive tumors were mostly located on the intermittently sun-exposed skin (57.1%; n = 4), pT4 (71.4%; n = 5), without regression (71.4%; n = 5), low density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (71.4%; n = 5), and BRAFwt tumors (85.7%; n = 6/7). While the average survival was 16.5 ± 11.6 months in CR-1-positive cases and 39.4 ± 3.9 months in CR-1-negative cases, this result was not found to be statistically significant.

Conclusion: CR-1 is a candidate protein for targeted therapy because it is an oncofetal protein and its expression is shown to be increased in malignancies while its expression is low/absent in normal adult tissues. In this study, CR-1 expression was detected in a small subset of melanoma cases and its expression was not correlated with clinicopathologic parameters.

Cite this article as: Önenerk Men AM, Namal AH, Demiröz AS, et al. A subset of cutaneous melanoma express oncofetal cripto-1 protein: correlation of histopathology and prognosis. Cerrahpaşa Med J. 2026, 50, 0030, doi: 10.5152/cjm.2026.26030.