Current applications of molecular genetic technologies to the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous melanocytic neoplasms

Abstract

Decades of research have brought knowledge to a point where physicians are beginning to understand human disease processes like oncogenesis on a molecular level. Molecular technologies are now being applied to current clinical settings such as the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous melanocytic neoplasms. In particular, dermatopathologists are using fluorescence in situ hybridization to aid in the diagnosis of challenging melanocytic neoplasms. Pathologists are working with oncologists to use the sequences of specific genes in melanomas to choose more effective treatments. This article discusses how these technologies are altering the ways in which cutaneous melanocytic neoplasms are diagnosed and treated.

Keywords: Fluorescense in situ hybridization; Imatinib; Ipilimumab; Melanoma; Spitz tumor; Uncertain malignant potential; Vemurafenib.