Cutaneous melanoma is an increasing health problem with an incidence that has steadily increased internationally in the last fifty years. When detected early, excision of the primary tumour is usually curative, however, metastatic disease remains extremely resistant to therapy and as yet, there is still no chemotherapeutic agent which offers a consistent effect on survival. Currently, the overriding prognostic indicator is disease stage defined at diagnosis, based on clinico-histological criteria including Breslow depth, mitotic rate and ulceration of the primary tumour; which combined, form the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Melanoma Staging and Classification system. However AJCC staging criteria alone are unable to identify the subset of patients with high risk early stage primary lesions that will eventually progress. The identification of credible biomarkers to refine the risk of disease progression, as well as predict those patients who would benefit from early stratified treatment is therefore fundamental to the enhancement of treatment efficacy-and the reduction in development of systemic disease.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:627724 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Ellis, Robert Alexander |
| Publisher | University of Newcastle Upon Tyne |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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