Source: News Medical Life Sciences, June 2025
Researchers have discovered that the most aggressive melanomas, the deadliest form of skin cancer, overactivate two key processes in mitochondria, the components of cells that provide energy. Blocking these pathways with currently available drugs effectively killed melanoma cells. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
By mapping the proteins expressed in 151 tumor and normal skin samples, investigators found that the most aggressive melanomas hyper-activate the machinery that builds mitochondrial proteins and the mitochondrial system that turns nutrients into energy.