Increased levels of β-catenin, LEF-1, and HPA-1 correlate with poor prognosis for acral melanoma with negative BRAF and NRAS mutation in BRAF exons 11 and 15 and NRAS exons 1 and 2.

To determine the expression of β-catenin, lymphoid enhancer-binding protein-1 (LEF-1), and heparanase-1 (HPA-1) and to evaluate these proteins' potential prognostic values in malignant acral melanoma without mutations in BRAF exons 11 and 15 and NRAS exons 1 and 2, specimens from 90 patients with wild-type BRAF and NRAS were assessed and analyzed by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. The positive expression of β-catenin, lymphoid enhancer-binding protein-1, and heparanase-1 was observed in 36 (72%), 31 (62%), and 32 (64%) of the detected acral melanomas, respectively. The expression of β-catenin, lymphoid enhancer-binding protein-1, and heparanase-1 was not correlated with gender, age, or diseased body parts (p>0.