Diagnostic Role of Chromosomal Instability in Melanoma.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Skin Cancer Volume 2012, Article ID 914267, 7 pages doi:10.1155/2012/914267 Review Article Diagnostic Role of Chromosomal Instability in Melanoma Nitika Dabas, Diana M. Byrnes, Ashley M. Rosa, Mark S. Eller, and James M. Grichnik Department of Dermatology, Anna Fund Melanoma Program, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Room 912, 1501 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136-1012, USA Correspondence should be addressed to James M. Grichnik, grichnik@ Received 29 June 2012; Revised 20 September 2012; Accepted 21 September 2012 Academic Editor: Lionel Larue Copyright © 2012 Nitika Dabas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Early diagnosis gives melanoma patients the best chance for long term survival. However discrimination of an early melanoma from an unusual/atypical benign nevus can represent a significant challenge. There are no current pathological markers to definitively define malignant potential in these indeterminate lesions. Thus, there is a need for improved diagnostic tools. Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of cancer and is markedly prevalent in melanoma. Advances in genomics have opened the door for the development of molecular tools to better segregate benign and malignant lesions. This paper focuses on CIN in melanoma and the role of current diagnostic approaches. 1. Introduction evolve. Herein, we review the current findings on CIN in