Targeting Genome Stability in Melanoma-A New Approach to an Old Field. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Despite recent groundbreaking advances in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma, it remains one of the most treatment-resistant malignancies. Due to resistance to conventional chemotherapy, the therapeutic focus has shifted away from aiming at melanoma genome stability in favor of molecularly targeted therapies. Inhibitors of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) pathway significantly slow disease progression. However, long-term clinical benefit is rare due to rapid development of drug resistance. In contrast, immune checkpoint inhibitors provide exceptionally durable responses, but only in a limited number of patients. It has been increasingly recognized that melanoma cells rely on efficient DNA repair for survival upon drug treatment, and that genome instability increases the efficacy of both MAPK inhibitors and immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss recent developments in the field of melanoma research which indicate that targeting genome stability of melanoma cells may serve as a powerful strategy to maximize the efficacy of currently available therapeutics.

publication date

  • March 28, 2021

Research

keywords

  • Genomic Instability
  • Melanoma
  • Skin Neoplasms

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC8036881

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85103034602

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1193

PubMed ID

  • 33800547

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 22

issue

  • 7