Skin Cancer News:

Researchers Find Major Gene Mutation That Is Cause of Malignant Melanoma

In an important breakthrough, researchers have found a major gene mutation that is the cause of malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Sixty-six percent of malignant melanomas have mutations in the BRAF gene, a gene that is also mutated in a number of other cancers, according to researchers participating in the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust's Sanger Institute and Institute of Cancer Research, both in England.

The BRAF gene is one of a chain of genes that must all be switched "on" for a cell to grow and divide. A mutation in the BRAF gene causes it to remain in the "on" position all the time, causing cells to keep dividing and multiplying, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.

The mutation is not inherited and appears to be a spontaneous event possibly caused by overexposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun.

Researchers are hopeful that their findings may lead to more effective therapies for the treatment of melanoma.

Source: Medical Week staff, week of June 16, 2002