Background Nowadays, conventional medical treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy cannot cure all types of cancer. A promising approach to treat solid tumors is the use of tumor-targeting peptides to deliver drugs or active agents selectively. Result Introducing beneficial therapeutic approaches, such as therapeutic peptides and their varied methods of action against tumor cells, can aid researchers in the discovery of novel peptides for cancer treatment. The biomedical applications of therapeutic peptides are highly interesting. These peptides, owing to their high selectivity, specificity, small dimensions, high biocompatibility, and easy modification, provide good opportunities for targeted drug delivery. In recent years, peptides have shown considerable promise as therapeutics or targeting ligands in cancer research and nanotechnology. Conclusion  This study reviews a variety of therapeutic peptides and targeting ligands in cancer therapy. Initially, three types of tumor-homing and cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are described, and then their applications in breast, glioma, colorectal, and melanoma cancer research are discussed.

Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer resulting from genetic mutations in melanocytes. Several factors have been considered to be involved in melanoma progression, including genetic alteration, processes of damaged DNA repair, and changes in mechanisms of cell growth and proliferation. Epigenetics is the other factor with a crucial role in melanoma development. Epigenetic changes have become novel targets for treating patients suffering from melanoma. These changes can alter the expression of microRNAs and their interaction with target genes, which involves cell growth, differentiation, or even death. Given these circumstances, we conducted the present review to discuss the melanoma risk factors and represent the current knowledge about the factors related to its etiopathogenesis. Moreover, various epigenetic pathways, which are involved in melanoma progression, treatment, and chemo-resistance, as well as employed epigenetic factors as a solution to the problems, will be discussed in detail.

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