Melanosome HMB45 (HMB-45), MMab

Summary and Explanation

Melanosome / HMB-45 antibody reacts against an antigen present in immature melanosomes, cutaneous melanocytes, prenatal and infantile retinal pigment epithelium cells. This antibody was generated to an extract of Melanoma. It reacted positively against Melanocytic Tumors but not other tumors, thus demonstrating specificity and sensitivity. Moreover, this antibody reacts positively against juntional nebus cells but not intradermal nevi, and against fetal melanocytes but not normal adult melanocytes.

This antibody is very useful to identify Malignant Melanoma. Metastatic Amelanotic Melanoma can often be confused with a variety of poorly differentiated Carcinomas, Large Cell Lymphomas, Sarcomas, Spindle Cell Carcinomas and various types of mesenchymal neoplasms. A keratin-negative, vimentin-rich neoplasm that immunoreacts with antibody to S-100 protein and with this melanoma antibody, is, with rare exception, a Melanoma.