Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
Malignant melanoma currently accounts for approximately 1%, of all cancer deaths. The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is rising worldwide. The treatment of early-stage melanoma consists primarily of surgical removal of the tumour. The overall 5-years survival rate for malignant melanoma is 81%. Recently, many efforts have been made to analyse the potential significance and the possible relationship of disease progression and circulating markers in malignant melanoma. Several serum biomarkers appear to hold significant potential both as prognostic indicators and as targets for future therapeutic agents. The application of these markers in clinical practice possibly holds the key to significant advances in melanoma. This review summarizes the principal characteristics of serum markers of melanoma. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (ldh), protein S-100β, melanoma-inhibiting activity (MIA) may correlate with melanoma progression. Tenascin-c, Hyaluronan, Laminin-1 and type VI Collagen are involved in melanoma development and extracellular matrix remodelling during melanoma progression.