Aberrations in kinases such as proto-oncogene BRAF (exons 11 and 15; p.V600E), NRAS (exons 2 and 3; codons 12, 13, and 61), or KIT (exons 11, 13, 17, and 18) are key factors in human skin melanomas, regulating melanocyte proliferation survival and apoptosis. The gene discussed is BRAF; the disease is cutaneous melanoma.