Recent advances in the molecular genetics of malignant melanoma.

The study of the molecular basis for sporadic and inherited melanoma has rapidly moved forward over the past several years. The crucial observation that chromosome 9p21 abnormalities occurred with high frequency in sporadic melanomas, coupled with the molecular demonstration of common 9p21 LOH, led investigators to focus on this region. Examinations of patterns of inherited susceptibility to melanoma established 9p21 as the site of the MLM locus.