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Review
. 2022 Mar;289(5):1352-1368.
doi: 10.1111/febs.16021. Epub 2021 May 30.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal-like transition events in melanoma

Dennis Pedri  1   2   3 , Panagiotis Karras  1   2 , Ewout Landeloos  1   2 , Jean-Christophe Marine  1   2 , Florian Rambow  1   2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal-like transition events in melanoma

Dennis Pedri et al. FEBS J. 2022 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process through which epithelial tumor cells acquire mesenchymal phenotypic properties, contributes to both metastatic dissemination and therapy resistance in cancer. Accumulating evidence indicates that nonepithelial tumors, including melanoma, can also gain mesenchymal-like properties that increase their metastatic propensity and decrease their sensitivity to therapy. In this review, we discuss recent findings, illustrating the striking similarities-but also knowledge gaps-between the biology of mesenchymal-like state(s) in melanoma and mesenchymal state(s) from epithelial cancers. Based on this comparative analysis, we suggest hypothesis-driven experimental approaches to further deepen our understanding of the EMT-like process in melanoma and how such investigations may pave the way towards the identification of clinically relevant biomarkers for prognosis and new therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: EMT; melanoma; phenotype switching.

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