Wnt5a/Ca (2+) /calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T signaling pathway as a potential marker of pediatric melanoma.

Melanoma is rare in children, but its incidence appears to be increasing. Melanoma accounts for the highest mortality among all skin cancer types. This disease is characterized by high-grade malignancy, easy metastasis, poor prognosis, and high death rate. Melanoma in children may be biologically different from that in adults. Therefore, novel biomarkers need to be developed to understand the mechanism by which melanoma cells migrate and infiltrate. Such biomarkers will also be useful for the molecular recognition and targeted therapy of melanoma. Ca 2+ regulates the migration, proliferation, infiltration, and metastasis of cancer cells. Consequently, many studies investigated the relationship of the Wnt/Ca 2+ signaling pathway to tumor occurrence and development. This review summarizes and discusses the function of the Wnt5a/Ca 2+ /calcineurin/nuclear factor of the activated T signaling pathway in melanoma and evaluates its potential to be a biomarker of pediatric melanoma.