NCI -- In a new study released today, researchers have shown that a specific protein plays an important role in inhibiting the development and spread of melanoma tumors in mouse and in human skin models. Increased expression of the protein, SOX9, may also decrease the resistance of melanoma cells to retinoic acid, which is used to treat several other types of cancer. The ability to increase sensitivity to retinoic acid by stimulating SOX9 expression could lead to new approaches for treating melanoma and other cancers. The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appears online March 9, 2009, in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
