Predicting the prognosis of high risk melanoma patients

Cutaneous melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, accounting for 80% of skin cancer-related deaths. There is a clear clinical need to improve the identification of aggressive melanoma lesions at diagnosis. This will enable personalised disease management (prevention of under- and overtreatment) and improve quality of life and prognosis of patients. Cancer-associated molecular alterations have been recognised as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis prediction. Molecular profiling of melanoma in their laboratory identified a promising biomarker named LY75 as independent predictor of poor melanoma prognosis.

Their laboratory at Maastricht University has a successful track record in identification and translation of cancer DNA methylation markers. In this project they will use this expertise to identify LY75 complementary melanoma markers. In addition, they will study the biomarker potential of LY75 in other cancer types. They will validate the newly identified biomarkers and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the new biomarker(panels).

The first deliverable of this project is a list of newly identified and validated DNA methylation markers complementary to LY75 for predicting melanoma prognosis. Next, the evaluation of prognostic potential of LY75 in other cancer types is a deliverable. Eventually, these findings will be published in scientific journals.

More information can be found here.