AUTHOR=Wangari-Talbot Janet , Chen Suzie TITLE=Genetics of melanoma JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2012 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2012.00330 DOI=10.3389/fgene.2012.00330 ISSN=1664-8021 ABSTRACT=
Genomic variation is a trend observed in various human diseases including cancer. Genetic studies have set out to understand how and why these variations result in cancer, why some populations are pre-disposed to the disease, and also how genetics affect drug responses. The melanoma incidence has been increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. The burden posed by melanoma has made it a necessity to understand the fundamental signaling pathways involved in this deadly disease. Signaling cascades such as mitogen-activated protein kinase and PI3K/AKT have been shown to be crucial in the regulation of processes that are commonly dysregulated during cancer development such as aberrant proliferation, loss of cell cycle control, impaired apoptosis, and altered drug metabolism. Understanding how these and other oncogenic pathways are regulated has been integral in our challenge to develop potent anti-melanoma drugs. With advances in technology and especially in next generation sequencing, we have been able to explore melanoma genomes and exomes leading to the identification of previously unknown genes with functions in melanomagenesis such as