Expression of Cytokine Genes in a Patient with Conjunctival Melanoma Compared with Other Pigment Cells

Conjunctival melanomas, which have a relatively good prognosis as compared to other mucosal melanomas, have been investigated morphologically and pathologically. We examined the gene expression of several cytokines in a patient with conjunctival melanoma and compared them to those of other pigment cells of the eye, because no reports have discussed cytokine expression in melanoma of the eye. Samples were collected from a 64-year-old woman with conjunctival melanoma and mRNAs were extracted and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed. We found that potent inhibitors of tumor cell growth such as interleukin 2, 4, 6 and γ-interferon were expressed in the tumor. These inhibitors were not expressed in other pigment cells of the eye, in blood, in conjunctival melanosis or in choroidal melanomas. The basic fibroblast growth factor gene, which has also been known to stimulate melanoma cell growth, was not expressed in the conjunctival melanoma, and it showed +/– or weak expression in choroidal melanomas, but it was expressed in the pigment cells in the eye and in conjunctival melanosis. Although only limited cytokine expression was examined here, these results may suggest an influence of these cytokines to the growth of conjunctival melanoma.