Assessing Workplace Relational Civility (WRC) with a New Multidimensional "Mirror" Measure

This article first introduces a new psychological construct and then presents the psychometric properties of a new multidimensional measure for assessing workplace relational civility (WRC). This new self-report mirror measure has two specular sections (Part A-Me with others; Part B-Others with me) that can assess individuals' relational patterns regarding civility and that can help reduce the bias in the assessment process. The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed a factor structure with three robust dimensions [relational decency (RD), relational culture (RCu), and relational readiness (RR)] exhibiting good values of internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis showed, in turn, a good fit of the model to the data. The correlations between the sections of the measure and the 11 instruments used were significant and in the expected directions. These results suggest that this new, brief mirror measure for assessing WRC can be easily employed in different organizational contexts to open different typologies of actions on the basis of the three dimensions, thereby facilitating the construction of a safer and more decent relational work environment.

Incidence and predictors of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who achieved sustained virological response

Data on the effects of sustained virologic response (SVR) to hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy on the outcome of extrahepatic complications are scarce. We conducted this study to assess the impact of SVR on the occurrence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes mellitus (DM), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a cohort of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. We analyzed coinfected HIV/HCV patients in the Management of Standardized Evaluation of Retroviral HIV Infection (MASTER) cohort. Only event-free patients with a serum HCV-RNA determination at baseline were included. Patients were divided into four groups: INF-exposed with SVR; INF-exposed without SVR; spontaneous HCV clearance; untreated viremic patients. We estimated the incidence of extrahepatic complications and employed Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression to assess the association of SVR/INF strata adjusted for a series of confounders. Data from 1676 patients were analyzed (20.29 % started an INF-based regimen). Overall, the incidence of CKD, DM, CVD, and death was 5.32 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.99-6.98], 10.13 (95 % CI 8.20-12.37), 6.79 (95 % CI 5.26-8.65), and 13.49 (95 % CI 11.29-16.0) per 1000 person-years of follow-up, respectively. In the Cox model for treated patients, SVR was not associated with a lower risk of CKD, DM, CVD, and death compared to non-SVR. Cirrhosis was significantly associated with a higher risk of CKD [hazard ratio (HR) 2.13; 95 % CI 1.06-4.31], DM (HR 3.48; 95 % CI 2.18-5.57), and death (HR 6.18; 95 % CI 4.1-9.31), but not of CVD (HR 1.14; 95 % CI 0.57-2.3). There are still many unknowns regarding the impact of SVR on the occurrence of extrahepatic complications in coinfected HIV/HCV patients. Further investigations are needed in order to elucidate the role of SVR as an independent prognostic factor for extrahepatic events.

Developing a New Instrument for Assessing Acceptance of Change

This article focuses on the usefulness of going beyond the concept of resistance to change and capitalizing on the use of a model that includes positivity and acceptance of change. We first discuss the theoretical background of this new construct in the work and organizational fields and then evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure for assessing acceptance of change. The results of exploratory factor analysis indicated a factor structure with five principal dimensions; besides confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) goodness of fit indices indicated a good fit of the model to the data. All the dimensions showed good values of internal consistency. The results of the present study indicate that the Acceptance of Change Scale (ACS) is a brief and easily administered instrument with good psychometric properties that can promote the development of clients' strengths and the growth of a sense of Self, thereby helping them choose their own way without losing any opportunities in their lives and their work.

Impaired emotion recognition is linked to alexithymia in heroin addicts

Several investigations document altered emotion processing in opiate addiction. Nevertheless, the origin of this phenomenon remains unclear. Here we examined the role of alexithymia in the ability (i.e., number of errors—accuracy and reaction times—RTs) of thirty-one heroin addicts and thirty-one healthy controls to detect several affective expressions. Results show generally lower accuracy and higher RTs in the recognition of facial expressions of emotions for patients, compared to controls. The hierarchical multivariate regression analysis shows that alexithymia might be responsible of the between groups difference with respect to the RTs in emotion detection. Overall, we provide new insights in the clinical interpretation of affective deficits in heroin addicts suggesting a role of alexithymia in their ability to recognize emotions.

Brief strategic therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a clinical and research protocol of a one-group observational study

INTRODUCTION

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling psychopathology. The mainstay of treatment includes cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and medication management. However, individual suffering, functional impairments as well as the direct and indirect costs associated with the disease remain substantial. New treatment programmes are necessary and the brief strategic therapy (BST) has recently shown encouraging results in clinical practice but no quantitative study has as yet been conducted.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The clinical effectiveness of the OCD-specific BST protocol will be evaluated in a one-group observational study. Participants will be sequentially recruited from a state community psychotherapy clinic in Dublin, Ireland. Outcome measures will be the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Data will be collected at baseline, at treatment termination and at 3 month follow-up. The statistical significance of the post-treatment effect will be assessed by the paired-sample Student t test, while clinical significance will be evaluated by means of the equivalence testing method, which will be also used to assess the maintenance of effect at follow-up.

ETHICS/DISSEMINATION

The present study is approved by the Hesed House Ethics Board in Dublin. Findings will enhance the evidence-based knowledge about the clinical effectiveness of BST in treating OCD symptoms, prior to assessing its efficacy in a randomised and controlled clinical trial, and will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.

Measuring Adolescent Life Satisfaction

This study examined the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in a sample of 1,515 Italian (females = 60.26%, males = 39.74%) adolescents and young adults ( Mage = 17.6 years, SD = 1.21). Results confirmed the unidimensionality, good reliability, and concurrent validity of the Italian version of the SWLS supporting its use in the Italian context.

Psychometric Properties of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in a Group of Italian Younger Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Alexithymia is a personality construct that inhibits and interferes with normal affect regulating abilities. The purpose of our study was to assess psychometric properties of TAS-20 in younger adolescents.

METHODS

Data were collected from 508 younger adolescents (48.8% male and 51.2% female) with a mean age of 12.56 years (DS=0.50, range: 12-13 years). We administered the following scales: 20-Item-Toronto Alexithymia Scale.

RESULTS

The confirmatory factor analysis performed on the second random subsample showed reasonable goodness-of-fit for the oblique bi-factorial model: [chi](2) (32, n=254)=54.22; p=0.008; χ(2)/df=1.69; NNFI=0.92; CFI=0.95; SRMR=0.05; RMSEA=0.05; 90% confidence interval=0.027-0.078.

CONCLUSION

Based on the outcomes of our research we support the idea of evaluating adolescents for alexithymia.

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for Fathers: A contribution to the validation for an Italian sample

OBJECTIVE

The aims of the study are to contribute to the validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987) on a sample of Italian fathers (both men in the perinatal period than those with grown-up children) and to analyze its factorial structure.

METHODS

Four hundred thirty-six fathers participated; specifically, we used two samples. The first was composed of 334 fathers, 39 of which were depressed new fathers. We conducted explorative factor analysis and receiver operator characteristic analysis. The second sample was composed of 102 fathers, 22 of which were depressed new fathers. We conducted confirmative factor analysis on this second sample. We administered the Italian version of the EPDS (Carpiniello et al., 1997; Benvenuti et al., 1999), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Ghisi et al., 2006) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (Fava, 1983).

RESULTS

The test seems to detect not depression but a state of distress including depressive symptoms, anxiety and unhappiness. Results showed a two-factor structure, different from that of mothers. The optimal cutoff for Italian fathers is 12/13.

CONCLUSIONS

The EPDS is a valid and reliable instrument, useful in the perinatal period for screening fathers at risk for perinatal distress and in need of psychological support.

[Italian version of the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales for Clinicians: a tool for the assessment of defense mechanisms in medical oncology]

INTRODUCTION

Facing distress situations arising from the interaction with the patient in oncology, eg breaking bad news, clinicians also, such as patients, protect themselves using unconscious defense mechanisms. Clinicians' psychic defenses topic is related to the clinicians training on communication with patients and to clinicians' individual characteristics issues. For clinicians the defensive functioning can be adaptive when mature defenses are activated or maladaptive if the defensive mode is immature, with implications on medical care effectiveness. It is therefore important to identify, assess and intervene on clinicians' defense mechanisms. The Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales for Clinicians (DMRS-C) is a tool developed as an addendum to the DMRS (originally created by Perry), for the assessment of clinician defenses. It is an assessment tool based on the observer, which can be applied to audio or video recordings, interviews transcripts or medical - psychotherapy sessions. This tool is currently available in French language only.

AIM

The aim of this work is to translate and adapt DMRS-C in Italian.

METHOD

The DMRS-C has been translated into Italian and back-translated into French in order to verify the correspondence with the original language. Psychometric properties of the scale has been investigated, in terms of face validity and reliability among judges, by calculating the intraclass coefficients Correlation, based on videotaped interviews of oncology visits from the Milan San Paolo Hospital video recordings Archive.

RESULTS

The assessment tool has had positive findings for the purposes of intra-judges reliability (ICC=4.73; sd mean=80,33) and face validity.

CONCLUSIONS

The consistency of the italian version with the original makes it suitable to highlight the frequency and variety of clinician defenses. This is the first study on medical oncologists defenses in real interviews. This tool will be useful to the fields of training and research on defenses in clinical care settings treating severe conditions such as oncology.

Antisocial and psychopathic personalities in a sample of addicted subjects: differences in psychological resources, symptoms, alexithymia and impulsivity

OBJECTIVE

Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are two constructs not interchangeable. Compared to the ASPD, psychopathy is characterized by lack of anxiety, low withdrawal, and high levels of attention seeking.

METHOD

The sample of this study included 76 subjects with a substance use disorder. Subjects were aged between 18 and 59 years old (M=32.87, SD=9.36). With respect to level of education 3 subjects are elementary school graduates, 49 have a middle school diploma, 21 own a high school diploma, and 3 participants have a bachelor's degree. We administered the following measures: a) Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R); b) Psychological Treatment Inventory (PTI); c) 20-Item-Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); d) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS).

RESULTS

Most of the significant correlations between the Psychopathic Index (PPI-R total score), and the measures administered are listed below: PPI-R total score and Deviance (r=.482, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Hypomania (r=.369, p < .001), PPI-R total score and Unresolved attachment (r=.293, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Manipulativeness (r=.550, p<.001), PPI-R total score and the TAS-20 total score (r=.230; p<.001), PPI-R total score and Difficulty in Identifying Feelings (DIF) factor (r=.250, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Attentional Impulsiveness (r=.409, p<.001); PPI-R total score and Motor Impulsiveness (r=.526, p<.001). Results of MANOVAs between the two groups also revealed significant differences on several variables analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that addicted subjects with psychopathic tendencies are more likely to experience negative emotions and have a peculiar cognitive style with respect to antisocial addicts. These results partially confirm those ones of previous studies underlining that psychopathic population is generally characterized for a major need for stimulation, poor behavioral controls, lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility.

CDKN2A mutations could influence the dermoscopic pattern of presentation of multiple primary melanoma: a clinical dermoscopic genetic study

BACKGROUND

Patients who develop cutaneous melanoma are at increased risk of developing a second primary melanoma. There are many aetiological reasons by which the risk of a second melanoma increases. Among others, genetic factors may contribute to modulating this risk. The risk of identifying a CDKN2A germline mutation increases with the number of primary melanomas and with the presence of familial history of melanoma. Patients with melanoma are especially encouraged to have regular follow-up visits with their dermatologist to perform clinical and dermatoscopic examination. In particular, dermoscopy could be very useful in multiple primary melanoma (MPM) patients.

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the clinical and dermatoscopic features of multiple melanomas, focusing on those features that are more frequently found in the same patient to recognize them earlier and understand whether they appear with the similar peculiar dermatoscopic features, especially in CDKN2A carriers.

METHODS

Medical records of MPM patients were selected from a database including 1065 patients with histopathologically proven melanoma diagnosis, all treated at the dermatology clinic of the University of Florence from 2000 to 2013. Pictures of melanoma were independently and blindly administered to three dermatologist experts in dermoscopy to evaluate the presence or absence of ABCD criteria for each clinical image, and the main pattern for the dermoscopic images. The results were then analyzed and crossed to rate the clinical and dermoscopic features of MPM.

RESULTS

Seventy five (7.0%) of 1065 patients included in our database were found to carry an MPM disease. Among them, we selected 12 (16%) patients with three or more MPMs. The presence of the CDKN2A melanoma susceptibility gene was observed in 4/12 (33.33%) patients; two patients presented the C500G and c.5 + 1delG polymorphisms in the CDKN2A gene. In CDKN2A carriers, each patient showed a similar and specific dermatoscopic pattern in their lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

Even being aware of the limitations of this study, according to hereditary characters and their modes of transmissions, we could speculate that for each patient with a CDKN2A germline mutation, it is possible to find the same kind of dermoscopical pattern among their melanocytic tumours.

The relationships between self-efficacy, internet addiction and shame

BACKGROUND

Internet addiction (IAD) is one of the most diffuse mental disorders among adolescents.

AIMS

The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationships between shame, self-efficacy and Internet addiction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We recruited a total of 670 college students (males = 164, 24.5%; females = 506, 75.5%). The subjects were aged between 18 and 36 years (M = 20.93, SD = 2.52; males: M = 21.43, SD = 2.95; females: M = 20.76, SD = 2.35). We administered the following instruments: Experience of Shame Scale; Perceived Social Self-Efficacy Scale - Adult Version; Perceived Self-Efficacy in Handling Negative Emotions Scales; Internet Addiction Test.

STATISTICS ANALYSIS

We applied multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA), Pearson's correlation indices and linear regression analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

We found a significant inter-relation between Internet addiction and shame. Shame could be a good predictor of Internet addiction.

The Relationships between Early Trauma, Dissociation, and Alexithymia in Alcohol Addiction

OBJECTIVE

Addiction is often considered a dissociative behavior that is related to alexithymia and developmental trauma. The study aims were to explore the relationships between early trauma, alexithymia, and dissociation.

METHODS

A total of 117 (males=60; females=57) alcohol-addicted individuals and 117 healthy individuals (males=60; females=57) were administered a series of self-report questionnaires that assess traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and pathological dissociation.

RESULTS

Correlation analyses indicated significant correlations between alexithymia, dissociation, and trauma and a significant difference between the target and control groups, with higher alexithymia and dissociation scores in the target group.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that trauma, alexithymia, and dissociation are predictors of alcohol addiction.

Assessment of the relationship between the use of birth control pill and the characteristics of mate selection

INTRODUCTION

In recent research, scientists have begun to suspect that birth control pill use could interfere with key mechanisms that play a role when women choose a sexual partner. Many studies have shown that women, particularly during the most fertile days of their menstrual cycle, look for specific physical, psychological, and behavioral characteristics indicative of genetic quality in a short-term partner.

AIMS

Analysis of the psychometric properties of the Partner's Masculinity Index (PMI) scale. The scale was built to assess the degree of masculinity in hypothetical short-term partners.

METHODS

A total of 395 female Italian volunteers from Central Italy (M = 32.9 years old, SD = 8.58, range = 18-50 years) completed the study. The psychometric properties of PMI were then evaluated.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We administered the following self-report questionnaires: (i) PMI; (ii) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Masculinity/Femininity scale; and (iii) Demographic Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed a four-factor structure for the PMI. Internal consistency of the measure, evaluated with the Cronbach's alpha, was satisfactory. Factorial ANOVA results showed that the group of nonpill users obtained higher scores on the PMI scale than the group of pill users (considering the fertile phase of the cycle).

CONCLUSIONS

From an evolutionary point of view, changes in preference for indicators of genetic quality in a sexual partner are considered to be functional and adaptive. Pill use may have implications for both current and future generations. Directions for future research are discussed.

Intimate partner violence: relationships between alexithymia, depression, attachment styles, and coping strategies of battered women

INTRODUCTION

One of the most common forms of violence against women is the intimate partner violence (IPV). This term includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors by an intimate partner.

AIM

This exploratory study investigates the relationship between alexithymia, adult attachment styles, depression, and coping strategies in a group of female victims of IPV and a control group.

METHODS

Participants were 80 female victims of IPV with an age range from 18 years to 54 years (mean 31.62; standard deviation 9.81). The control group included 80 women with no history of IPV with an age range from 19 years to 37 years (mean 25.05; standard deviation 3.67).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We administered the following self-report questionnaires: (i) 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); (ii) Coping Orientation Problems Experienced; (iii) Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II; and (iv) Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ).

RESULTS

Compared with control group, the IPV group showed higher mean scores on TAS-20 (52.9 vs. 41.1, P < 0.001) and BDI-II (19.50 vs. 9.95, P < 0.001). In both groups, we found significant correlations between BDI-II and TAS-20 total scores (P < 0.001) and between BDI-II and the following dimensions of ASQ: confidence (P < 0.001), discomfort with closeness (P = 0.002), relationships as secondary (P < 0.001), need for approval (P < 0.001), and preoccupation with relationships (P < 0.001). Differently from the control group, in the IPV group, social support correlated significantly and positively (P < 0.001) with the dimension preoccupation with relationships on ASQ, but not with the secure attachment style.

CONCLUSIONS

In comparison to the control group, alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and an insecure attachment style were negatively correlated with the ability to cope with stress for women in the IPV group.

[Milk and butter. From the Neolithic to the current nutritional aspects]

The evolution in the history of nutrition knowledge towards dairy products, is strictly related to the socio-cultural development of humans. In fact, milk and butter have accompanied humans since ancient times, which traces of the consumption of such products are dated back about the earliest times after the last (glaciation) ice age, while the application for extra nutritional uses, such as cosmetics and ceremonial rites, are reported in the writings of the Old Testament. Even in Italy, before the Roman Empire, were known rudimentary techniques of production and storage of dairy products. But only with the advent of the Etruscans, and the Romans later, that the use of milk and dairy products reach a wide diffusion in several applications. Since the advent of Christ until today, milk and its derivatives have maintained a privileged place in the human diet, but it is only with the advent of modern medicine and new findings in lipidic chemistry that emerged multiple biological and nutritional properties, very important for human health. After a short summary of the ancient history of the milk and butter, the role of dairy products in cancer, in hypercholesterolemia, and cardiovascular disease are reported. Moreover, the current opinions on saturated fatty acids, the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their lipid mediators obtained by the action of cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase and the cytochrome P450 enzymes, are treated. Even if sometimes mistreated, the milk, but most of all its high fat content derivatives such as butter, is a rich source of biologically active compounds that foster a controversial action against neolplastic and cardiovascular disease. These compounds, mainly contained in the lipid fraction, for the more obvious relationships that exist between nutrition and health status, have been the subject in the last decades of intense scientific investigation in which there were expressed lights and shadows, but recognizing that not all fats are harmful and further thorough studies are necessary, in particular, on the derived lipid mediators. This will allow a significant progress based on new scientific evidences, further orienting researchers and clinicians on evidence-based nutritional science.

Tuberculosis control in big cities and urban risk groups in the European Union: a consensus statement

In low-incidence countries in the European Union (EU), tuberculosis (TB) is concentrated in big cities, especially among certain urban high-risk groups including immigrants from TB high-incidence countries, homeless people, and those with a history of drug and alcohol misuse. Elimination of TB in European big cities requires control measures focused on multiple layers of the urban population. The particular complexities of major EU metropolises, for example high population density and social structure, create specific opportunities for transmission, but also enable targeted TB control interventions, not efficient in the general population, to be effective or cost effective. Lessons can be learnt from across the EU and this consensus statement on TB control in big cities and urban risk groups was prepared by a working group representing various EU big cities, brought together on the initiative of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The consensus statement describes general and specific social, educational, operational, organisational, legal and monitoring TB control interventions in EU big cities, as well as providing recommendations for big city TB control, based upon a conceptual TB transmission and control model.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociation, and alexithymia in an Italian sample of flood victims

BACKGROUND

Several studies have demonstrated a significant association between dissociation and posttraumatic symptoms. A dissociative reaction during a traumatic event may seem to predict the later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Moreover, several researchers also observed an alexithymic condition in a variety of traumatized samples.

METHODS

A total of 287 flood victims (men =159, 55.4%; women =128, 44.6%) with an age range of 17-21 years (mean =18.33; standard deviation =0.68) completed the following: Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Dissociative Experiences Scale II, Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire.

RESULTS

We found significant correlations among all variables. Linear regression showed that peritraumatic dissociation plays a mediator role between alexithymia, dissociation, and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our results seem to confirm the significant roles of both dissociation and alexithymia for the development of posttraumatic symptoms.

Genotypic testing on HIV-1 DNA as a tool to assess HIV-1 co-receptor usage in clinical practice: results from the DIVA study group

PURPOSE

We have developed a sequencing assay for determining the usage of the genotypic HIV-1 co-receptor using peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) DNA in virologically suppressed HIV-1 infected patients. Our specific aims were to (1) evaluate the efficiency of V3 sequences in B versus non-B subtypes, (2) compare the efficiency of V3 sequences and tropism prediction using whole blood and PBMCs for DNA extraction, (3) compare the efficiency of V3 sequences and tropism prediction using a single versus a triplicate round of amplification.

RESULTS

The overall rate of successful V3 sequences ranged from 100 % in samples with >3,000 copies HIV-1 DNA/10(6) PBMCs to 60 % in samples with <100 copies total HIV-1 DNA /10(6) PBMCs. Analysis of 143 paired PBMCs and whole-blood samples showed successful V3 sequences rates of 77.6 % for PBMCs and 83.9 % for whole blood. These rates are in agreement with the tropism prediction obtained using the geno2pheno co-receptor algorithm, namely, 92.1 % with a false-positive rate (FPR) of 10 or 20 % and of 96.5 % with an FPR of 5.75 %. The agreement between tropism prediction values using single versus triplicate amplification was 98.2 % (56/57) of patients using an FPR of 20 % and 92.9 % (53/57) using an FPR of 10 or 5.75 %. For 63.0 % (36/57) of patients, the FPR obtained via the single amplification procedure was superimposable to all three FPRs obtained by triplicate amplification.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show the feasibility and consistency of genotypic testing on HIV-1 DNA tropism, supporting its possible use for selecting patients with suppressed plasma HIV-1 RNA as candidates for CCR5-antagonist treatment. The high agreement between tropism prediction by single and triple amplification does not support the use of triplicate amplification in clinical practice.

Oestrogen receptor beta and melanoma: a comparative study

BACKGROUND

Oncological research has focused on evaluating oestrogen receptors (ERs) in oestrogen-related tumours, and understanding the potential role of ERs in the pathophysiology of cancer.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the significance of oestrogen receptor beta (ERβ) in melanoma.

METHODS

We prospectively evaluated ERβ expression in malignant melanoma (MM) tissue and adjacent healthy skin by quantitative immunohistochemistry at the Department of Dermatology of the University of Florence, from 1998 to 2010.

RESULTS

ERβ was detected with varying staining intensity in the 66 malignant melanocytic lesions. After adjusting for age and sex, we found that ERβ expression was significantly lower in melanoma tissue compared with adjacent healthy skin (P < 0·0001). We also found significantly lower ERβ levels in thick melanoma tissue compared with thin melanoma tissue. In addition, there was a positive association between Breslow thickness and the difference of ERβ expression between healthy tissue and melanoma tissue (P = 0·0004). Consistent with sex differences in melanoma survival, men showed significantly lower levels of ERβ than women in both melanoma (P = 0·05) and healthy tissues (P = 0·02).

CONCLUSIONS

ERβ expression is inversely associated with Breslow thickness and is significantly influenced by sex in MM.