Understanding mechanisms of disease evolution in melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can be lethal. This study found that whilst melanoma is usually pigmented, depigmentation occurs as melanoma progresses, suggesting that depigmented cells outcompete pigmented cells, and that this is linked to expression of a protein called AXL. By modifying AXL levels and developing systems to evaluate how melanoma cells compete with one another, it was shown that AXL does not by itself reliably affect pigmentation, and that the role it plays in melanoma progression might vary from patient to patient. The findings provide insight into complex mechanisms of how melanoma cells compete and evolve as the disease progresses.