Oncogenic signaling pathways and hallmarks of cancer in Korean patients with acral melanoma

Acral melanoma (AM), a rare subtype of cutaneous melanoma, shows higher incidence in Asians, including Koreans, than in Caucasians. However, the genetic modification associated with AM in Koreans is not well known and has not been comprehensively investigated in terms of oncogenic signaling, and hallmarks of cancer. We performed whole-exome and RNA sequencing for Korean patients with AM and acquired the genetic alterations and gene expression profiles. KIT alterations (previously known to be recurrent alterations in AM) and CDK4/CCND1 copy number amplifications were identified in the patients. Genetic and transcriptomic alterations in patients with AM were functionally converge to the hallmarks of cancer and oncogenic pathways, including 'proliferative signal persistence', 'apoptotic resistance', and 'activation of invasion and metastasis', despite the heterogeneous somatic mutation profiles of Korean patients with AM. This study may provide a molecular understanding for therapeutic strategy for AM.