Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes which are found predominantly in skin but also in bowel and the eye. It is one of the rarer types of skin cancer but causes the majority of skin cancer related deaths. Despite many years of intensive laboratory and clinical research, the sole effective cure is surgical resection of the primary tumor before it achieves a thickness of greater than 1 mm.

Around 160,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed worldwide each year, and it is more frequent in males and caucasians. It is particularly common in white populations living in sunny climates. According to the WHO Report about 48,000 melanoma related deaths occur worldwide per annum.

5-S-CD

• in intraocular fluids may serve as a useful biochemical marker for the diagnosis of uveal melanoma. PMID: 11583680, PMID: 9619024

ALCAM (CD166)

• a marker of tumor progression in primary malignant melanoma of the skin. PMID: 10702391

Endothelin-B (ETB) Receptor

• added to the growing list of tumor progression markers in MM and suggest that ETs play a role in the progression of MM in the skin. PMID: 11407477

Glypican-3 (GPC3)

• apparently a novel tumor marker useful for the diagnosis of melanoma, especially in early stages of the disorder. PMID: 15475451

MIA

• a reliable tumor marker in the serum of patients with malignant melanoma. PMID: 11326664
• The elevation of MIA serum levels in patients with metastatic disease from melanomas suggests a promising role as a serum marker for monitoring patients with uveal melanoma. PMID: 10916387

Mitf (Microphthalmia transcription factor)

• important in melanocyte development and melanoma growth, and detection in blood can indicate subclinical metastatic disease and predict treatment outcome in melanoma patients. PMID: 16489066

MUC18

• expressed only sporadically in benign melanocytic nevi and thin primary melanomas that have a low probability of metastasizing, is a marker of tumor progression in human melanoma. PMID: 2602381

S100

• in peripheral blood as compared to MIA, LDH and albumin appears to be the most appropriate tumor marker for newly occurred melanoma metastases. PMID: 11396205

TuM2-PK (Tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase)

• a novel plasma tumor marker in melanoma. PMID: 15957165

VEGFR-3

• a new microvascular progression marker in cutaneous melanoma. PMID: 12460927