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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

A 3D Organotypic Melanoma Spheroid Skin Model
Published on: May 18, 2018
Prognostic significance of nuclear receptor coactivator-3 overexpression in primary cutaneous melanoma
Javier Rangel1, Sima Torabian, Ladan Shaikh
1Auerback Melanoma Research Laboratory, Cutaneous Oncology Program, University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.
Purpose:
To assess the prognostic significance of nuclear receptor coactivator-3 (NCOA3) overexpression in primary cutaneous melanoma.
Patients And Methods:
NCOA3 expression was assessed using immunohistochemical analysis of a melanoma tissue microarray (TMA) containing primary melanomas from 343 patients with defined histology and follow-up. The impact of the presence or absence of various prognostic factors on relapse-free survival (RFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) of melanoma patients was assessed using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. The impact of presence or absence of various factors on sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis was assessed using logistic regression analysis.
Results:
Increasing degree of NCOA3 expression was significantly predictive of SLN metastasis (P = .013) and the mean number of SLN metastases (P = .031). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a significant association between NCOA3 overexpression and reduced RFS (P = .021) and DSS (P = .030). Logistic regression analysis revealed increasing degree of NCOA3 expression to be an independent predictor of SLN status (P = .017). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the independent impact of NCOA3 expression on RFS (P = .0095) and DSS (P = .021). NCOA3 was the most powerful factor predicting DSS, outperforming tumor thickness and ulceration.
Conclusion:
These results identify NCOA3 as a novel, independent marker of melanoma outcome, with a significant impact on SLN metastasis, RFS, and DSS.
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