Abstract
Cutaneous melanoma is an aggressive tumor responsible for 90% of mortality related to skin cancer. In the recent years, the discovery of driving mutations in melanoma has led to better treatment approaches. The last decade has seen a genomic revolution in the field of cancer. Such genomic revolution has led to the production of an unprecedented mole of data. High-throughput genomic technologies have facilitated the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling of several cancers, including melanoma. Nevertheless, there are a number of newer genomic technologies that have not yet been employed in large studies. In this article we describe the current classification of cutaneous melanoma, we review the current knowledge of the main genetic alterations of cutaneous melanoma and their related impact on targeted therapies, and we describe the most recent high-throughput genomic technologies, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. We hope that the current review will also help scientists to identify the most suitable technology to address melanoma-related relevant questions. The translation of this knowledge and all actual advancements into the clinical practice will be helpful in better defining the different molecular subsets of melanoma patients and provide new tools to address relevant questions on disease management. Genomic technologies might indeed allow to better predict the biological - and, subsequently, clinical - behavior for each subset of melanoma patients as well as to even identify all molecular changes in tumor cell populations during disease evolution toward a real achievement of a personalized medicine.
Highlights
ON CUTANEOUS MELANOMACutaneous melanoma represents an aggressive tumor with a continuous increase in incidence, mortality rates have begun to decline thanks to promising new targeted treatments [1]
In this article we describe the current classification of cutaneous melanoma, we review the current knowledge of the main genetic alterations of cutaneous melanoma and their related impact on targeted therapies, and we describe the most recent highthroughput genomic technologies, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages
In situ/SSM appears as a pigmented macule with irregular contours that may progressively evolve into a papule or plaque, so far as invasion occurs; histologically, melanoma in situ is defined as the presence of a pagetoid spread of malignant melanocytes throughout the epidermis; instead, invasive SSM presents as a proliferation of atypical melanocytes in the superficial dermis. ii
Summary
We hope that the current review will help scientists to identify the most suitable technology to address melanoma-related relevant questions. The translation of this knowledge and all actual advancements into the clinical practice will be helpful in better defining the different molecular subsets of melanoma patients and provide new tools to address relevant questions on disease management. Genomic technologies might allow to better predict the biological - and, subsequently, clinical - behavior for each subset of melanoma patients as well as to even identify all molecular changes in tumor cell populations during disease evolution toward a real achievement of a personalized medicine
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