Drug resistance in melanoma is commonly attributed to ineffective apoptotic pathways. Targeting apoptosis regulators is thus considered a promising approach to sensitizing melanoma to therapy. In this issue of Experimental Dermatology, Plötz & Eberle discuss the role that apoptosis plays in melanoma progression and drug resistance and the utility of apoptosis-inducing BH3-mimetics as targeted therapy. There are a number of compounds in clinical development and the field seems close to translating recent findings into benefits for melanoma patients. Thus this viewpoint is timely and achieves a valuable summary of the current state of apoptosis inducing therapy of melanoma. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
