Comparative study of YKL-40, S-100B and LDH as monitoring tools for Stage IV melanoma.

Background: Serum markers can be important tools for the prognostic classification and the treatment monitoring in cancer patients. Recently, the potential new serum marker YKL-40 has been introduced for patients with malignant melanoma. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of YKL-40 in stage IV melanoma patients regarding treatment outcome and survival compared to the established markers LDH and serum S-100B and to evaluate their ability to discriminate between different stages of the disease.