CDKN2A in Melanoma: Recent Advances
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.2501Keywords:
melanoma, CDKN2A, p14, p16, skin cancer, cell cycle signaling, pathologyAbstract
Melanoma is a skin cancer that accounts for 1% of total skin cancers, with a strikingly high mortality rate that accounts for 80% of deaths amongst skin cancer patients. Melanoma is a skin cancer driven by melanocyte mutations inducing uncontrolled cellular division. One specific gene, CDKN2A, is commonly associated with melanoma. CDKN2A codes for two proteins termed p14 and p16, each involved in their respective molecular pathways. Both, p14 and p16 affect the cell cycle, but in unique ways which can lead to the uncontrolled proliferation of mutated melanocytes and melanoma pathogenesis. Emerging therapeutic and molecular screening techniques have been used to detect CDKN2A mutations to evaluate potential genetic mechanisms driving melanoma pathology across patients. In this review, I present a brief history of melanoma, examine a select number of disease associated genetic mutations, and describe how these mutations affect downstream signaling pathways involving p14 and p16 leading to melanoma formation. I conclude with a discussion synthesizing historical and emergent biochemical signaling findings in mutant CDKN2A to evaluate future potential targeted therapeutic strategies.
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