Abstract

BARRIO, María Marcela. Chemoresistance to melanoma. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2009, vol.43, n.3, pp.345-350. ISSN 0325-2957.

Several therapeutic strategies such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are being used to treat cancer. However, in the case of melanomas, only surgery during the early stages (stages I-II) of the disease can be curative in a high proportion of patients. Chemotherapy treatment with dacarbazine (DTIC) as well as combinations with cisplatin, vinblastine and carmustine proves to be ineffective to eliminate melanoma cells, since only 10% of patients responded positively without prolonging survival. Chemoresistance can be caused by both a lack of primary response of the melanoma and the development of resistance mechanisms acquired by the tumor usually defined as multi-drug resistance (MDR).The most important mechanisms responsible for such resistance and how the knowledge of those mechanisms is applied to the development of new therapeutic agents are analyzed in this article. Finally, the latest strategies that combine chemotherapy and immunotherapy (Biochemotherapy) to optimize the treatment of metastatic melanoma will be further discussed.

Keywords : Melanoma; Chemoresistance; Chemotherapy; Immunotherapy.

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