Molecular biomarkers of prognosis in melanoma: how far are we from the clinic?

Interest in novel targeted and immunological therapies for advanced melanoma has never been greater. Novel prognostic biomarkers to stratify patients according to risk of relapse are also needed in both the primary and metastatic disease settings. Molecular methods have markedly increased the number and types of experimental hypotheses that can be evaluated in pursuit of these aims. Indeed, their contribution to a prioritized overview of the biology of melanoma has been substantial. But what are the barriers to integrating molecular biomarkers into clinical practice?

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