London, August 17 (ANI): New treatments could soon be on the way in the fight against the deadliest form of skin cancer.
A potential new target for the treatment of melanoma, the deadliest of all skin cancers, has been identified.
Researchers found that a new channel-forming protein called Pannexin (Panx1) is expressed in normal levels on the surface of healthy skin cells.
However, in melanoma, Panx1 is over-produced to a pathological level, meaning that measuring levels of this protein could be a good indicator of whether cancer was present or not.
The study also discovered that if the level of the protein is reduced, the cell becomes more normal.
"We think this over-production of Panx1 enables the melanoma to become very aggressive," the Daily Express quoted Professor Dale Laird, of the University of Western Ontario in Canada, as saying.
"The cells have these extra Panx1 channels and they can leave the primary tumour and invade other tissues. When you find a protein that is high in a disease cell such as a melanoma the question becomes: is there therapeutic value in targeting a drug to that protein, to reduce its production or block its function?" Laird added. (ANI)
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