A comparative analysis of genome-scale transcriptomic data of two types of skin cancers, melanoma and basal cell\r\ncarcinoma in comparison with other cancer types, was conducted with the aim of identifying key regulatory factors that\r\neither cause or contribute to the aggressiveness of melanoma, while basal cell carcinoma generally remains a mild disease.\r\nMultiple cancer-related pathways such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, cell invasion and metastasis, are\r\nconsidered, but our focus is on energy metabolism, cell invasion and metastasis pathways. Our findings include the\r\nfollowing. (a) Both types of skin cancers use both glycolysis and increased oxidative phosphorylation (electron transfer\r\nchain) for their energy supply. (b) Advanced melanoma shows substantial up-regulation of key genes involved in fatty acid\r\nmetabolism (b-oxidation) and oxidative phosphorylation, with aerobic metabolism being far more efficient than anaerobic\r\nglycolysis, providing a source of the energetics necessary to support the rapid growth of this cancer. (c) While advanced\r\nmelanoma is similar to pancreatic cancer in terms of the activity level of genes involved in promoting cell invasion and\r\nmetastasis, the main metastatic form of basal cell carcinoma is substantially reduced in this activity, partially explaining why\r\nthis cancer type has been considered as far less aggressive. Our method of using comparative analyses of transcriptomic\r\ndata of multiple cancer types focused on specific pathways provides a novel and highly effective approach to cancer studies\r\nin general.
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