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Precision Oncology in Melanoma Progression Volume II

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 3786

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Preclinical Models and New Therapeutic Agents Unit, Translational Research Functional Departmental Area, Research, Advanced Diagnostics and Technological Innovation Department, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144 Rome, Italy
Interests: cancer research; melanoma; personalized precision medicine; pathway-targeted drugs; bcl-2 family protein; cancer biomarkers; microRNA; proteomics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Melanoma represents the most malignant type of skin cancer, with increasing incidence worldwide. The alteration of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal transduction pathways are key mechanisms involved in the development of melanoma. Moreover, melanoma has long been at the cutting edge of immuno-oncology research, and immunotherapies such as cytokines, adoptive cell transfer, and T-cell modulators represented the first, pioneering approaches. In this scenario, checkpoint inhibitor therapy constitutes the most current and effective treatment strategy that targets immune checkpoints to re-activate silenced T cell cytotoxicity.

Despite the remarkable progress in melanoma diagnosis, research, and new therapeutic approaches, therapy of the advanced stage of this tumor is still rather limited. Common resistance mechanisms bypass the dependence of tumor cells on initial driver mutations during targeted therapy. Similarly, several factors contribute to this immune evasion. Additionally, the tumor microenvironment can facilitate tumor progression with cytokines, chemokines, and inhibitory factors or can recruit immunosuppressive immune cells, including regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and tumor-associated macrophages.

This Special Issue will be dedicated to summarizing the state of the art in precision diagnosis and treatment of melanoma and will focus on genetic diagnosis, molecular mechanisms of resistance to targeted and immune therapies, strategies to overcome resistance, and monitoring of disease progression and relapse under therapy (e.g., by liquid biopsy), to provide updated information on the current status of molecular, pharmaceutical, and translational scientific discoveries. Authors are encouraged to submit original research manuscripts but can also provide suggestions for review articles.

Potential topics will include but are not limited to:

  • Novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis and progression of melanoma;
  • Molecular, genetic, and cellular alterations associated with melanoma;
  • Genomic, transcriptomic, and tumor-infiltrating immune cell profiles in predicting immune checkpoint blockade response;
  • Potential synergic effects of small molecules and immunotherapy in facing melanoma progression;
  • Novel therapeutic strategies to overcome drug-resistance melanoma;
  • Application of -omics technologies in precision oncology in melanoma progression.

Dr. Simona D'Aguanno
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 3293 KiB  
Article
Combined Therapy with Dacarbazine and Hyperthermia Induces Cytotoxicity in A375 and MNT-1 Melanoma Cells
by Diana Salvador, Verónica Bastos and Helena Oliveira
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(7), 3586; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23073586 - 25 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3252
Abstract
Melanoma is a drug-resistant cancer, representing a serious challenge in cancer treatment. Dacarbazine (DTIC) is the standard drug in metastatic melanoma treatment, despite the poor results. Hyperthermia has been proven to potentiate chemotherapy. Hence, this work analyzed the combined action of hyperthermia and [...] Read more.
Melanoma is a drug-resistant cancer, representing a serious challenge in cancer treatment. Dacarbazine (DTIC) is the standard drug in metastatic melanoma treatment, despite the poor results. Hyperthermia has been proven to potentiate chemotherapy. Hence, this work analyzed the combined action of hyperthermia and DTIC on A375 and MNT-1 cell lines. First, temperatures between 40 °C and 45 °C were tested. The effect of DTIC on cell viability was also investigated after exposures of 24, 48, and 72 h. Then, cells were exposed to 43 °C and to the respective DTIC IC10 or IC20 of each time exposure. Overall, hyperthermia reduced cell viability, however, 45 °C caused an excessive cell death (>90%). Combinational treatment revealed that hyperthermia potentiates DTIC’s effect, but it is dependent on the concentration and temperature used. Also, it has different mechanisms from the treatments alone, delaying A375 cells at the G2/M phase and MNT-1 cells at the S and G2/M phases. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels increased after treatment with hyperthermia, but the combined treatment showed no additional differences. Also, hyperthermia highly increased the number of A375 early apoptotic cells. These results suggest that combining hyperthermia and DTIC should be more explored to improve melanoma treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Oncology in Melanoma Progression Volume II)
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