The incidence of melanoma is rising globally and mortality is increasing faster than most other cancers. Recent advances in the molecular biology of melanoma have uncovered several potential therapeutic targets in melanoma. It has been observed that 81% of melanomas arising from non-chronic sun-damaged skin have an oncogenic BRAF or NRAS mutation, whereas such mutations are far less frequent in chronic sun-damaged skin melanomas, acral melanomas, or mucosal melanomas. In contrast, c-Kit mutations are more common in mucosal and acral melanomas, which can also be accompanied by an increase in c-Kit copy numbers.