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Review
. 2021 Aug 11;10(8):2048.
doi: 10.3390/cells10082048.

Epigenetic Regulation in Melanoma: Facts and Hopes

Emilio Francesco Giunta  1 , Gianluca Arrichiello  1 , Marcello Curvietto  2 , Annalisa Pappalardo  1 , Davide Bosso  3 , Mario Rosanova  3 , Anna Diana  1   3 , Pasqualina Giordano  3 , Angelica Petrillo  1   3 , Piera Federico  3 , Teresa Fabozzi  3 , Sara Parola  4 , Vittorio Riccio  4 , Brigitta Mucci  4 , Vito Vanella  2 , Lucia Festino  2 , Bruno Daniele  3 , Paolo Antonio Ascierto  2 , Margaret Ottaviano  3   5 , On Behalf Of Scito Youth
Affiliations
Review

Epigenetic Regulation in Melanoma: Facts and Hopes

Emilio Francesco Giunta et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Cutaneous melanoma is a lethal disease, even when diagnosed in advanced stages. Although recent progress in biology and treatment has dramatically improved survival rates, new therapeutic approaches are still needed. Deregulation of epigenetics, which mainly controls DNA methylation status and chromatin remodeling, is implied not only in cancer initiation and progression, but also in resistance to antitumor drugs. Epigenetics in melanoma has been studied recently in both melanoma preclinical models and patient samples, highlighting its potential role in different phases of melanomagenesis, as well as in resistance to approved drugs such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and MAPK inhibitors. This review summarizes what is currently known about epigenetics in melanoma and dwells on the recognized and potential new targets for testing epigenetic drugs, alone or together with other agents, in advanced melanoma patients.

Keywords: DNA methylation; chromatin remodeling; epigenetic drugs; epigenetics; melanoma; non-coding RNA; therapeutic resistance.

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Conflict of interest statement

E.F.G. declares personal fees from Novartis. A.P. declares personal fees from Eli-Lilly, Servier, MSD. P.A.A. has/had a consultant/advisory role for Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche-Genentech, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Merck Serono, Pierre-Fabre, AstraZeneca, Sun Pharma, Sanofi, Idera, Sandoz, Immunocore, 4SC, Italfarmaco, Nektar, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eisai, Regeneron, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer, Oncosec, Nouscom, Lunaphore, Seagen, iTeos. He also received research funding from Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche-Genentech, Array, Sanofi and travel support from MSD. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main epigenetic mechanisms involved in melanoma onset and progression (bold text), with some examples of alterations for each mechanism. (A) DNA methylation status; (B) chromatin remodeling; (C) non-coding RNA. Abbreviations: CIMP, CpG island methylator phenotype; miRNA, microRNA; lncRNA, long non-coding RNA; SWI/SNF, SWItch/sucrose non-fermentable.
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