Melanoma never says die

Abstract

Drug resistance in melanoma is commonly attributed to ineffective apoptotic pathways. Targeting apoptosis regulators is thus considered a promising approach to sensitizing melanoma to therapy. In the previous issue of Experimental Dermatology, Plötz and Eberle discuss the role that apoptosis plays in melanoma progression and drug resistance and the utility of apoptosis-inducing BH3-mimetics as targeted therapy. There are a number of compounds in clinical development and the field seems close to translating recent findings into benefits for patients with melanoma. Thus, this viewpoint is timely and achieves a valuable summary of the current state of apoptosis-inducing therapy of melanoma.

Keywords: BH3-mimetic; SMAC-mimetic; drug resistance; intrinsic apoptosis pathway; melanoma therapy.