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. 2014;6(3):228.

Melanoma: Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Management

Yuxin Liu  1 , M Saeed Sheikh  1
Affiliations

Melanoma: Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Management

Yuxin Liu et al. Mol Cell Pharmacol. 2014.

Abstract

Malignant melanoma remains one of the fastest growing cancers worldwide. Although the primary cutaneous melanoma can be managed by surgery, the advanced metastatic melanoma cannot be managed by surgery alone and thus, requires better therapeutic approaches. In view of high mortality rates due to metastatic melanoma, better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of malignant melanoma is urgently needed. Such information is expected to prove very valuable in early detection of potential metastatic lesions and developing newer therapeutic approaches in order to better manage this malignancy. This article reviews the available information on the molecular changes associated with malignant melanoma and discusses the potential of such information in facilitating the development of newer anti-melanoma therapeutics. Current state of knowledge and the future of traditional and newly approved anti-melanoma therapeutics are also discussed.

Keywords: BRAF; Cobimetinib; Dabrafenib; Melanoma; Trametinib; Vemurafenib.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests

YL has no conflicts of interest to declare. MSS owns securities of Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of vemurafenib. From PubChem.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structure of dabrafenib. From PubChem.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structure of trametinib. From PubChem.
Figure 4
Figure 4. BRAF activation signaling events. Vemurafenib and dabrafenib inhibit BRAFV600 mutant form, whereas trametinib and cobimetinib inhibit MEK
Adapted from Ascierto et al. (141).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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