The role of furin in the development of skin cancer

Introduction: Skin cancer represents a major, and growing, public health problem, and is the most common type of cancer observed in Caucasians [1-3]. The three most common forms of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma. BCC and SCC are together known as non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC), and are both derived from keratinocytes whereas melanomas are derived from melanocytes [3-6]. SCCs can undergo metastasis; BCCs rarely do, while melanomas can be highly metastatic [5, 6].