Original articles
INVESTIGATION OF TWIST 1 SERUM LEVELS IN MALIGNANT MELANOMA

Epithelial mesenchymal transition is a cellular process in which epithelial cells lose their epithelial phenotype and acquire the mesenchymal phenotype. The main consequence of this process is the destruction of intercellular junctions with increased individual cell motility.
TWIST1 is a transcription factor that initiates this process, favoring tumor metastasis.
In our study we investigated a total of 20 patients with malignant melanoma, of which, 12 with primary tumor
(Clark IV-V, Breslow over 1, Ki67 positive 60%) and 8 patients with primary tumor and regional lymphadenopathy. TWIST 1 levels in the serum were investigated by ELISA.
Our results showed increased values of TWIST1 in the serum of 18 patients from the 20 that we investigated, with
values approximately 2 times higher compared to control.
Patients with primary tumor and lymphadenopathy 8/20, showed elevated levels of TWIST1, an increase of about
three times the normal values.
Elevated serum levels of TWIST1 highlighted in the initia states of tumor are correlated with melanoma iomarkers (Clark level of invasion, Breslow level, Ki67), noting that these values can have a variable evolution over time.