{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,29]],"date-time":"2025-11-29T16:25:27Z","timestamp":1764433527461,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,28]],"date-time":"2023-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1695859200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) is an important intermediate of DNA demethylation. Hypomethylation of DNA is frequent in cancer, resulting in deregulation of 5-hmC levels in melanoma. However, the interpretation of the intensity and distribution of 5-hmC immunoreactivity is not very standardized, which makes its interpretation difficult. In this study, 5-hmC-stained histological slides of superficial spreading melanomas (SSM) and dysplastic compound nevi (DN) were digitized and analyzed using the digital pathology and image platform QuPath. Receiver operating characteristic\/area under the curve (ROCAUC) and t-tests were performed. A p-value of &lt;0.05 was used for statistical significance, and a ROCAUC score of &gt;0.8 was considered a \u201cgood\u201d result. In total, 92 5-hmC-stained specimens were analyzed, including 42 SSM (45.7%) and 50 DN (54.3%). The mean of 5-hmC-positive cells\/mm2 for the epidermis and dermo-epidermal junction and the entire lesion differed significantly between DN and SSM (p = 0.002 and p = 0.006, respectively) and showed a trend towards higher immunoreactivity in the dermal component (p = 0.069). The ROCAUC of 5-hmC-positive cells of the epidermis and dermo-epidermal junction was 0.79, for the dermis 0.74, and for the entire lesion 0.76. These results show that the assessment of the epidermal with junctional expression of 5-hmC is slightly superior to dermal immunoreactivity in distinguishing between DN and SSM.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms241914711","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,29]],"date-time":"2023-09-29T02:47:30Z","timestamp":1695955650000},"page":"14711","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Standardized Computer-Assisted Analysis of 5-hmC Immunoreactivity in Dysplastic Nevi and Superficial Spreading Melanomas"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2005-7533","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elias A. T.","family":"Koch","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0229-8931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carola","family":"Berking","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0315-1229","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ramona","family":"Erber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Institute of Pathology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7136-6489","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Erdmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Franklin","family":"Kiesewetter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MVZ Pathology, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, 96049 Bamberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefan","family":"Schliep","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4603-1825","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Markus V.","family":"Heppt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen\u2014European Metropolitan Area of Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 91054 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1016\/j.humpath.2013.02.007","article-title":"Value of melanocytic-associated immunohistochemical markers in the diagnosis of malignant melanoma: A review and update","volume":"45","author":"Ordonez","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hum. 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