VEGFA and melanoma: This notion has been supported by our recent observations that METCAM/MUC18 promotes progression of prostate cancer cells by increasing proliferative indexes (KI67 and PCNA), a survival signaling index (P-AKT/AKT ratio), and pro-angiogenic indexes (VEGF, VEGFR2, and CD31); however, it did not affect apoptosis, which is different from its role in melanoma [32].