Molecular Biology and Genetic Mechanisms in the Progression of the Malignant Skin Melanoma

Malignant skin melanoma is a tumor deriving from transformed skin melanocytes as a result of complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. This melanoma has a potential to metastasize early and very often it is resistant to the existing modalities of the systemic therapy. As in any other neoplasms, certain types of melanoma may skip certain stages of progression.

The progression from one stage to another is accompanied by specific biological changes. Several key changes in the melanoma tumorogenesis influence the regulation of the cell proliferation and vitality, including the RAS-RAF-ERK, PI3K-AKT, and p16^INK4/CDK4/RB pathways. A key role in the dissreguarity of the RAS-RAF-ERK (MAPK) pathway in the malignant melanoma development have been demonstrated by many studies. To date, the molecular genetic alterations during melanoma development have been partially known. In the pathogenesis of the malignant melanoma, there are mutations of various genes such as NRAS, BRAF, and PTEN and mutations and deletions of CDKN2A.

In the past years, great advance has been made in the insights of the molecular aspects of the melanoma pathogenesis. However, this field yet poses a challenge to discover new details about the melanoma molecular characteristics. The research results are focused towards the improvement of the melanoma patients prognosis by introducing personalized targeted therapy.