As rates rise, researchers find better way to identif...( University of Rochester Medical Cent...)

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found a new protein produced excessively in malignant melanoma, a discovery that is particularly relevant as skin cancer rates climb dramatically among young women.

The protein, IMP-3, is not over-expressed in harmless moles but is increased in the most dangerous types of skin cancer, and in a subset of lesions that can be difficult to predict called thin melanomas. The finding offers a potential target for treatment but perhaps most importantly might give doctors a new, objective way to distinguish melanoma from some benign moles that look like melanoma but are not cancerous.

"We are very excited about our finding that IMP-3 is an important progression marker in malignant melanoma," said first author Jennifer G. Pryor, M.D., a third-year resident in the URMC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. "Although we have learned a lot about melanoma in recent years, it has unique biologic properties that sometimes make it difficult to diagnose and to plan for the proper treatment. This protein may have a key role in helping us to understand and distinguish between various types of melanocytic lesions."

The research is published in the journal Modern Pathology. http://www.nature.com/modpathol/journal/v21/n4/full/3801016a.html

This summer the National Cancer Institute warned that new cases of melanoma among young women jumped 50 percent since 1980. Possible explanations, medical experts said, include increased use of tanning beds and more time spent outdoors. Overall rates of melanoma have also been rising among older adults.

The pilot study investigated samples of 56 biopsied lesions from 48 adults. The lesions fell into the category of cutaneous melanocytic neoplasms, a diverse group that includes benign moles; Spitz nevi, a type of mole seen in younger people that can be ea
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