Melanoma is the deadliest of all skin cancers due to its high metastatic potential. In recent years, advances in targeted therapy and immunotherapy have contributed to a remarkable progress in the treatment of metastatic disease. However, intrinsic or acquired resistance to such therapies remains a major obstacle in melanoma treatment. Melanoma disease progression, beginning from tumor initiation and growth to acquisition of invasive phenotypes and metastatic spread and acquisition of treatment resistance, has been associated with cellular dedifferentiation and the hijacking of gene regulatory networks reminiscent of the neural crest (NC)—the developmental structure which gives rise to melanocytes and hence melanoma. This review summarizes the experimental evidence for the involvement of NC stem cell (NCSC)‐like cell states during melanoma progression and addresses novel approaches to combat the emergence of stemness characteristics that have shown to be linked with aggressive disease outcome and drug resistance.

中文翻译：

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疾病进展和治疗过程中黑色素瘤神经嵴干细胞样状态的再次出现

由于其高转移潜能，黑色素瘤是所有皮肤癌中最致命的。近年来，靶向治疗和免疫治疗的进展促进了转移性疾病的治疗取得了显着进展。然而，对此类疗法的内在或获得性耐药仍然是黑色素瘤治疗的主要障碍。黑色素瘤疾病的进展，从肿瘤开始和生长到获得侵袭性表型和转移扩散和获得治疗抗性，与细胞去分化和基因调控网络的劫持有关，这让人联想到神经嵴 (NC)——这种发育结构产生黑色素细胞，从而产生黑色素瘤。