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J Biomed 2017; 2(2):94-100. doi:10.7150/jbm.19834

Review

Melanoma from Molecular Pathways to Clinical Treatment: An Up to Date Review

Christoforos Kosmidis¹, Sofia Baka², Konstantinos Sapalidis¹, Nick Mixalopoulos¹, Stefanos Atmatzidis¹, Harilaos Koulouris¹, George Anthimidis³, Nick Varsamis³, Paul Zarogoulidis⁴, Yan-Gao Man⁵, Eleni Georgakoudi¹, Stelios Mantalovas¹, George Koimtzis¹, Alexandros Tsakalidis¹, Isaac Kesisoglou^1✉

1. 3rd Surgical Department, "AHEPA" University General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki;
2. Oncology Department, Interbalkan European Medical Center;
3. Surgery Department, Interbalkan European Medical Center;
4. Pulmonary Department-Oncology Unit, “G. Papanikolaou” General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece;
5. Laboratory of Proteomics and Protein Sciences, Veterans Affair Health System, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

Skin cancer is divided to melanoma and non-melanoma. Melanoma occurs due to deregulation of melanocytes. Melanoma is frequent in Caucasian population. During the last decade there is an increase in melanoma and in many cases there is a diagnostic challenge. Moreover; choosing the right treatment is a challenge for many patients. Malignant melanoma is known to be a lethal disease due to its aggressive capacity for metastasis and resistance to therapy. In the last decade, considerable efforts have gone into development of an effective immunotherapy for treatment of melanoma. The combination of macrophage activation and other treatments such as immunotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, may provide an effective and comprehensive anti-melanoma strategy.

Keywords: Melanoma, immunotherapy, molecular pathways.