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Review
. 2018 Jan 17;17(1):8.
doi: 10.1186/s12943-018-0757-5.

Liquid biomarkers in melanoma: detection and discovery

Su Yin Lim  1   2 , Jenny H Lee  1   2 , Russell J Diefenbach  1   2 , Richard F Kefford  1   2   3 , Helen Rizos  4   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Liquid biomarkers in melanoma: detection and discovery

Su Yin Lim et al. Mol Cancer. .

Abstract

A vast array of tumor-derived genetic, proteomic and cellular components are constantly released into the circulation of cancer patients. These molecules including circulating tumor DNA and RNA, proteins, tumor and immune cells are emerging as convenient and accurate liquid biomarkers of cancer. Circulating cancer biomarkers provide invaluable information on cancer detection and diagnosis, prognosticate patient outcomes, and predict treatment response. In this era of effective molecular targeted treatments and immunotherapies, there is now an urgent need to implement use of these circulating biomarkers in the clinic to facilitate personalized therapy. In this review, we present recent findings in circulating melanoma biomarkers, examine the challenges and promise of evolving technologies used for liquid biomarker discovery, and discuss future directions and perspectives in melanoma biomarker research.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Immunotherapy; Liquid biopsy; Melanoma; Targeted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

RFK has been on advisory boards for Roche, Amgen, BMS, Merck, Novartis and TEVA and has received honoraria from Merck, BMS and Novartis. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Clinical applications of cancer biomarkers. Genetic, protein and cellular components can serve as diagnostic, prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers of cancer. Diagnostic biomarkers are used to identify and detect presence of cancer in individuals, prognostic biomarkers provide information on disease progression and expected outcomes, and predictive biomarkers forecast the likely benefit of a specific treatment
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Circulating biomarkers. Tumour and immune cells, proteins, nucleic acids and extracellular vesicles (which include exosomes) can be detected in circulation and may serve as potential cancer biomarkers. ctDNA, circulating tumour DNA; miRNA, micro RNA; lncRNA, long non-coding RNA
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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