Molecular pathways supporting the proliferation staging of malignant melanoma (Review)
The clinical diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma always calls for histological confirmation. In addition to the recognition of the classic aspects of the neoplasm, immunohistochemistry is determinant, in particular in the assessment of the size of the replicative compartment. Generally, the proliferatio...
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Published in | International journal of molecular medicine Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 295 - 301 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article Web Resource |
Language | English |
Published |
Greece
D.A. Spandidos
01.09.2009
Professor D A Spandidos |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The clinical diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma always calls for histological
confirmation. In addition to the recognition of the classic aspects of the neoplasm,
immunohistochemistry is determinant, in particular in the assessment of the size
of the replicative compartment. Generally, the proliferation rate is indicative
of the neoplastic progression and is related to the clinical growth rate of the
neoplasm. It allows to distinguish high risk melanomas showing a high growth rate
from those of lower malignancy associated with a restricted growth rate. In melanoma,
the recruitment and progression of neoplastic cells in the cell cycle of proliferation
have lost some of their controls that are normally processed by a series of key
regulatory molecules. In addition, the apoptotic pathway counteracting any hyperproliferative
activity is released of the dependency of specific regulated molecular mechanisms.
This review summarizes the current knowledge on key molecular components involved
in the deregulation of the growth fraction, cell proliferation and apoptosis in
melanocytic neoplasms. The implication of cyclins and of the mitogen-activated
protein kinase pathways are scrutinized. The involvement of neoplastic stem cells
in the metastatic process is also discussed. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 scopus-id:2-s2.0-70349477978 |
ISSN: | 1107-3756 1791-244X |
DOI: | 10.3892/ijmm_00000232 |