Targeted Therapy of Melanoma: Novel Mechanisms and Biomarkers of Drug Resistance

Dear Colleagues, 

Melanoma is an aggressive cutaneous cancer that causes the greatest number of skin-cancer-related deaths worldwide. While early-stage melanoma can be cured successfully by surgical resection, stage IV melanoma has a dismal prognosis and is almost completely resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

During the last decade, enormous progress has been achieved in the management of metastatic melanoma thanks to the development and introduction in the clinical practice of BRAF and MEK inhibitors and of monoclonal antibodies targeting CTLA-4 and PD-1. However, the percentage of patients presenting primary resistance to therapy, especially to immune checkpoint inhibitors, is still relevant. Furthermore, the development of secondary resistance, especially against inhibitors of BRAF and MEK, limits the long-term efficacy of therapy. Although a variety of molecular mechanisms underlying primary and/or acquired resistance to targeted therapy and immunotherapy have been so far identified, there is still a pressing need to improve our knowledge in this field to identify novel targets and to develop new combinatorial therapeutic approaches aimed at increasing drug sensitivity and overcoming the occurrence of secondary resistance. No less urgent is identifying tumor biomarkers, as predictors of response to therapy or able to detect the emergence of secondary resistance early.

The aim of the present Special Issue is to create a collection of studies focused on the identification of new molecular mechanisms and biomarkers of drug resistance to molecularly targeted drugs used or under investigation to underline the current state of the art in these new promising weapons against cutaneous melanoma.

Dr. Francesco Facchiano
Dr. Claudio Tabolacci
Dr. Stefania D'Atri
Guest Editors

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