TWEAK levels prognostic for disease recurrence in cutaneous melanoma

Dr Canan Güvenç, researcher at KU Leuven, presented findings from a retrospective study investigating serum cytokine and chemokine profiles in patients with stage I–III cutaneous melanoma (CM). Serum samples from 429 CM patients, collected at the time of diagnosis, and from 99 healthy controls (HC) were analysed using multiplex high-throughput immunoassays. Following surgical excision of the primary tumor, patients were monitored for a minimum of six years for disease relapse (M+). During follow-up, 67 patients experienced relapse, while 362 remained relapse-free (M−). Mean serum levels of TWEAK were significantly elevated in M− patients compared to healthy controls and were further increased in M+ patients. Cox regression analysis demonstrated a highly significant association between baseline TWEAK levels and subsequent relapse. These findings suggest that TWEAK serves as a robust diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in CM, with serum levels at diagnosis strongly correlating with the risk of tumour relapse during long-term follow-up.