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The most recent 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of melanocytic tumours incorporates cumulative sun damage and, in particular, molecular genetic changes to achieve this task, and recognizes nine different genetic pathways leading to melanoma development. Melanoma is therefore not a\u00a0single disease genetically, but rather represents nine different well-defined clinicopathological entities that differ in terms of biological behaviour and their response to various treatment modalities. In this article, genetic pathways in the development of cutaneous melanoma are reviewed, and practical recommendations for pathologists with regards to molecular testing are provided.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00292-026-01586-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T12:19:44Z","timestamp":1788524384000},"page":"449-464","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular pathology in the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma","Molekularpathologie bei der Diagnose des kutanen Melanoms"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"47","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2534-8671","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bo\u0161tjan","family":"Luzar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrej","family":"Zupan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alenka","family":"Matja\u0161i\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo\u017ee","family":"Pi\u017eem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"1586_CR1","volume-title":"WHO Classification of Skin Tumours 5th edition: Who classification of tumours","author":"DE Elder","year":"2025","unstructured":"Elder\u00a0DE (2025) WHO Classification of Skin Tumours 5th edition: Who classification of tumours, 5th\u00a0edn. 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