Proteomic profiles of melanoma cell-derived exosomes in plasma: discovery of potential biomarkers of melanoma progression.

Cancer liquid biopsy encompassing circulating tumor cells (CTC), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and/or tumor-derived exosomes (TEX) emerges as a novel approach to early detection, noninvasive monitoring of responses to therapy and predicting patient survival. TEX are a key component of liquid biopsy because they mimic tumor cells in their proteomic and genetic content. Two recent proteomic analyses of TEX released into plasma by melanoma cells confirms the potential of TEX as diagnostic and prognostic markers in melanoma.