Implications of Altered Endosomal-Lysosomal Biogenesis in Melanoma Pathogenesis

Melanoma exhibits inherent heterogeneity and a high metastatic propensity, posing significant challenges for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. There are recognized problems with the visual detection of melanoma, such as amelanocytic lesions, which indicate that melanogenesis is downstream of the critical pathogenesis. The endosome-lysosome system regulates trafficking to control melanogenesis, and endosome function/signaling is directly impacted by common melanoma mutations. The endosomal-lysosomal system is also integrally involved in the regulation of fundamental cellular processes that are associated with other key hallmarks of this cancer. This traditional narrative review explores the relationship between altered endosomal-lysosomal biogenesis, aberrant melanogenesis, and oncogenic function in melanoma, including the potential effects on proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underpinning the altered endosomal-lysosomal biology in melanoma is important as this has the potential to define new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to improve patient management.