Pharmacogenetic candidate genes for melanoma.
The incidence of melanoma is rising at an alarming rate and has become an important public health concern. If detected early, melanoma carries an excellent prognosis after appropriate surgical resection. Unfortunately, advanced melanoma has a poor prognosis and is notoriously resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. The relative resistance of melanoma to a wide-range of chemotherapeutic agents and high toxicity of current therapies has prompted a search for effective alternative treatments that would improve prognosis and limit side effects. Advances in molecular genetics are revealing in increasing detail the mechanisms responsible for the development of melanoma. Hopefully, elucidation of these pathways will provide a means of screening high-risk individuals and allow new drug development for prevention and treatment by identification of specific pharmacological targets. This review will summarize the genetics of melanoma with the goal of providing insights into potential pharmacogenetic candidate genes.
University of Utah School of Medicine. sancy.leachman@hci.utah.edu
Christopher
C
Hull
April
A
Larson
Sancy
S
Leachman
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics*; D010597:Pharmacogenetics / Q000379:methods*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents