Biomarkers for Melanoma

February 10, 2020

Abstract

Biomarkers of melanoma may eventually be used in diagnostics, prognostics, as well as prediction of clinical outcome and/or treatment response. These biomarkers may be either clinical characteristics or molecular patterns or profiles, mainly derived from tumor tissue or from the peripheral blood. The molecular biomarkers can be categorized into genetic alterations, epigenetics, proteins, or other types of molecules, which provide a “signature” of risk, prognosis, and/or treatment response. Because of the potential of biomarkers to improve the prognostication and hereby the outcome of patients with melanoma, research is underway to identify and validate melanoma biomarkers from numerous sources, including tumor cells (cultured, freshly biopsied, and paraffin-embedded), draining regional lymph nodes, serum/plasma, tumor environment, and cellular compartments of the peripheral blood. The biomarkers reviewed here comprise tumor tissue-based biomarkers, tumor environment-based biomarkers, soluble biomarkers of the peripheral blood, as well as treatment-associated biomarkers. These biomarkers might not only be useful for diagnostics, prognostication, and prediction of treatment outcomes but in particular for the continuous monitoring of a patient’s course of disease over time.

Source:

Schadendorf D., Flaherty K.T., Duncan L.M., Kashani-Sabet M., Ugurel S. (2020) Biomarkers for Melanoma. In: Balch C. et al. (eds) Cutaneous Melanoma. Springer, Cham

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-030-05070-2_45