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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2019; 40(03): 325-335
DOI: 10.4103/ijmpo.ijmpo_204_18
Review Article

Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma and Targeted Therapy Based on the Biomarkers

Jayabal Pandiaraja
Department of General Surgery, Care Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive form of cutaneous malignancy. It accounts for more than 75% of cancer-related deaths among cutaneous malignancies. It accounts for <5% of cutaneous malignancy. Numerous biomarkers are used in malignant melanoma with varying clinical applications, including diagnostic purposes, prognosis, therapeutic purpose, and targeted therapy against melanoma. Systemic chemotherapy in malignant melanoma has little benefit compared to immunotherapy and targeted therapy. The observed overall survival with systemic chemotherapy is much less compared with targeted therapy in advanced or metastatic melanoma. Various targeted therapies are currently used in melanoma treatment including BRAF inhibitors such as vemurafenib and dabrafenib; MEK inhibitors such as trametinib; anti-CTLA-4 antibodies such as ipilimumab; and anti-programmed cell death 1 antibodies such as nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and pidilizumab. This study discusses the role of biomarkers and targeted therapies based on the biomarker.

Keywords

Anti-CRLA-4 antibodies - anti-programmed cell death 1 therapy - biomarkers - BRAF inhibitors - MEK inhibitors - melanoma - targeted therapy


Publication History

Received: 15 September 2018

Accepted: 04 August 2019

Article published online:
03 June 2021

© 2019. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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