Towards new therapeutic approaches for malignant melanoma

Ivan Pacheco; Cristina Buzea; Victor Tron

doi:10.1017/S146239941100202X

Towards new therapeutic approaches for malignant melanoma

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 November 2011

Ivan Pacheco ,

Cristina Buzea and

Victor Tron

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Ivan Pacheco: Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
Cristina Buzea: Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
Victor Tron*: Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
*: *Corresponding author: Victor Tron, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University, 88 Stuart Street, Kingston, ON K7L2V7, Canada. E-mail: tronv@queensu.ca

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Abstract

Recent progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of the initiation and progression of melanoma has created new opportunities for developing novel therapeutic modalities to manage this potentially lethal disease. Although at first glance, melanoma carcinogenesis appears to be a chaotic system, it is indeed, arguably, a deterministic multistep process involving sequential alterations of proto-oncogenes, tumour suppressors and miRNA genes. The scope of this article is to discuss the most recent and significant advances in melanoma molecular therapeutics. It is apparent that using single agents targeting solely individual melanoma pathways might be insufficient for long-term survival. However, the outstanding results on melanoma survival observed with novel selective inhibitors of B-RAF, such as PLX4032 give hope that melanoma can be cured. The fact that melanoma develops acquired resistance to PLX4032 emphasises the importance of simultaneously targeting several pathways. Because the most striking feature of melanoma is its unsurpassed ability to metastasise, it is important to implement newer systems for drug delivery adapted from research on stem cells and nanotechnology.

Type: Review Article
Information: Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine , Volume 13 , March 2011 , e33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S146239941100202X [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Towards new therapeutic approaches for malignant melanoma

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Towards new therapeutic approaches for malignant melanoma

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