title: Melanoma never says die.
abstract: Drug resistance in melanoma is commonly attributed to ineffective apoptotic pathways. Targeting apoptosis regulators is thus considered a promising approach to sensitizing melanoma to therapy. In the previous issue of Experimental Dermatology, Plötz and Eberle discuss the role that apoptosis plays in melanoma progression and drug resistance and the utility of apoptosis-inducing BH3-mimetics as targeted therapy. There are a number of compounds in clinical development and the field seems close to translating recent findings into benefits for patients with melanoma. Thus, this viewpoint is timely and achieves a valuable summary of the current state of apoptosis-inducing therapy of melanoma.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Qld, Australia; The Centenary Institute, Newtown, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Dermatology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Nikolas K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Haass
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schumacher
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018450:Disease Progression; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C581062:RTL10 protein, human
keywords: BH3-mimetic; SMAC-mimetic; drug resistance; intrinsic apoptosis pathway; melanoma therapy