Thelansis

  Melanoma arises from the melanocytes of cutaneous or pigmented tissues such as the eyes or intestines. Melanoma, when malignant, has a marked propensity to metastasize to the brain. About 90% of melanomas are diagnosed as primary tumors without any evidence of metastasis. Australia has the highest melanoma incidence rate; New Zealand has the highest melanoma mortality rate. The major oncogenic mutations associated with melanoma are BRAF, NRAS, c-KIT, PTEN, and GNAQ/GNA11. BRAF is the most widely studied mutation; prevalence in primary melanoma ranges from 50% to 60%. Around 5% to 12% of the patients with melanoma have a family history of CMM in one or more first-degree relatives.   So far, more than 75 somatic mutations in the BRAF gene have been identified in melanoma, and all mutations at V600 in exon 15 constitutively activate BRAF. The mutations are either in the activating segment in exon 15 or the glycine-rich loop (P-loop) in exon 11 of the kinase domain of the ...