Summary

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) removes UV-induced DNA damage and other bulky DNA lesions thereby maintaining genomic integrity. Dr. Qingyi Wei’s group demonstrated over the last decade that NER fidelity and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NER genes constitute melanoma risk biomarkers. In this issue (Li et al.) they provide evidence that SNPs in NER genes may also predict melanoma survival. Keywords Cutaneous melanoma (CM); nucleotide excision repair (NER); xeroderma pigmentosum (XP); single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) The melanoma problem Skin cancer is the most frequent form of cancer in Caucasians. Cutaneous melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and its frequency is increasing rapidly. In the United States, there were approximately 76,000 new melanoma cases and 56,000 melanoma in situ cases in 2012. Melanoma mortality increased in the U.S. at an annual rate of 1.5 % from 1950 to 2005. More than 8,000 deaths from melanoma are estimated per year. In the clinical setting relatively crude melanoma risk factors are applied today, including family history of melanoma, age, gender, amount of sunlight exposure (particularly intense intermittent exposure), sensitivity to sunburning, freckling, fair hair, eye and skin color and number and size of nevi (Blankenburg et al. 2005) (See also the NCI melanoma risk assessment too