Abstract
Melanoma is one of the most lethal and malignant cancers and its incidence is increasing worldwide, and Japan is not an exception. Although there are numerous therapeutic options for melanoma, the prognosis is still poor once it has metastasized. The main concern after removal of a primary melanoma is whether it has metastasized, and early detection of metastatic melanoma would be effective in improving the prognosis of patients. Thus, it is very important to identify reliable methods to detect metastases as early as possible. Although many prognostic biomarkers (mainly for metastases) of melanoma have been reported, there are very few effective for an early diagnosis. Serum and urinary biomarkers for melanoma diagnosis have especially received great interest because of the relative ease of sample collection and handling. Several serum and urinary biomarkers appear to have significant potential both as prognostic indicators and as targets for future therapeutic methods, but still there are no efficient serum and urinary biomarkers for early detection, accurate diagnosis and prognosis, efficient monitoring of the disease and reliable prediction of survival and recurrence. Levels of 5-S-cysteinyldopa (5SCD) in the serum or urine as biomarkers of melanoma have been found to be significantly elevated earlier and to reflect melanoma progression better than physical examinations, laboratory tests and imaging techniques, such as scintigraphy and echography. With recent developments in the treatment of melanoma, studies reporting combinations of 5SCD levels and new applications for the treatment of melanoma are gradually increasing. This review summarizes the usefulness of 5SCD, the most widely used and well-known melanoma marker in the serum and urine, compares 5SCD and other useful markers, and finally its application to other fields.
Highlights
Melanoma is a malignant tumor that originates from melanocytes
These results show that 5SCD levels reflect tumor burden sensitively, and that higher 5SCD values might indicate more widespread dissemination of melanoma metastases
Umemura et al reported that serum levels of 5SCD have a higher sensitivity than serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in advanced stage melanoma, and that in patients with stage III/IV melanoma, a serum level of 5SCD >15.0 nmol/L at their initial hospital visit correlated with a poor prognosis [82]
Summary
Melanoma is a malignant tumor that originates from melanocytes. As melanoma is one of the most serious and malignant cancers worldwide, efficient biomarkers are needed for early detection, efficient monitoring of the disease, and reliable prediction of survival and recurrence. A number of potentially useful melanoma biomarkers have been reported [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47] (Table S1). 5-S-cysteinyldopa (5SCD) is one of the most widely used and well-known melanoma biomarkers, especially in Japan. This review gives a historical overview of 5SCD as a biomarker of melanoma and describes the current status of 5SCD to monitor disease progression and to predict prognosis and therapy response of melanoma in comparison with other biomarkers
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