Abstract
In an era of personalized medicine, disease specific biomarkers play an increasing role in the stratification of high-risk patient groups. Cutaneous malignant melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer with an ever-increasing global incidence, especially in patients under 35-years of age. Despite the excellent prognosis for patients diagnosed with early stage disease, metastatic disease still carries significant overall mortality. Biomarkers aim not only to identify high-risk patients, but also to provide potential therapeutic targets for differing patient subgroups. Furthermore, accessibility to tissue samples from a range of disease stages in malignant melanoma, unlike most other solid tissue tumours, provides the unique opportunity to explore the biology of tumour progression that may be relevant in the biology of cancer as a whole. Over the past decade, there have been major advances in targeted therapies, providing new avenues and hope to patients with this devastating disease. This review will focus on most up to date histological, serological and molecular biomarkers in malignant melanoma.
Highlights
A biomarker describes “any measurable diagnostic indicator that is used to assess the risk or presence of disease” [1]
Current prognostic biomarkers in malignant melanoma are based on the American Joint Committee on cancer (AJCC) criteria and, they constitute some of the well-established biomarkers in solid tumours, are still unable to predict the subgroup of patients who will eventually progress to metastatic disease
Prognostic markers are able to stratify patients according to eventual outcome, and are used clinically to determine whether, for instance, a patient should receive adjuvant therapy following a diagnosis of melanoma [2]
Summary
A biomarker describes “any measurable diagnostic indicator that is used to assess the risk or presence of disease” [1]. Current prognostic biomarkers in malignant melanoma are based on the American Joint Committee on cancer (AJCC) criteria and, they constitute some of the well-established biomarkers in solid tumours, are still unable to predict the subgroup of patients who will eventually progress to metastatic disease. The addition of a prognostic biomarker to the clinician’s repertoire allows patients to be triaged at the time of diagnosis and initial surgery. Those patients deemed at higher risk of metastases could be started on adjuvant therapies at an earlier stage than is currently possible, potentially decreasing the number of patients with untreatable metastatic disease [3]
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