Management of cutaneous melanoma

Of all cancer in the United States, cutaneous melanoma ranks fifth in incidence among men and seventh among women and is the second leading cause of lost productive years. Recent advances in our understanding of the biologic features of melanomia indicate that many tumors evolve strong defenses against chemotherapy-induced apoptosis, including methylation-mediated silencing of the APAF-1 gene, sustained expression of Bcl-2, and activating mutation of the BRAF gene.