lactoferricin-b and Skin-Neoplasms

Melanomas are aggressive tumors with a high metastatic potential and an increasing incidence rate. They are known for their heterogeneity and propensity to easily develop therapy-resistance. Nowadays they are one of the most common cancers diagnosed during pregnancy. Due to the difficulty in balancing maternal needs and foetal safety, melanoma is challenging to treat. The aim of this study was to provide a potential model system for the study of melanoma in pregnancy and to illustrate melanoma heterogeneity. For this purpose, a pigmented and a non-pigmented section of a lymph node metastasis from a pregnant patient were cultured under different conditions and characterized in detail. All four culture conditions exhibited different phenotypic, genotypic as well as tumorigenic properties, and resulted in four newly established melanoma cell lines. To address treatment issues, especially in pregnant patients, the effect of synthetic human lactoferricin-derived peptides was tested successfully. These new

Topics: Adult; Animals; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Line; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Humans; Lactoferrin; Lymphatic Metastasis; Melanoma; Mice; Mice, Inbred NOD; Pregnancy; Primary Cell Culture; Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf; Skin Neoplasms; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays