Melanoma is one of the most dangerous types of cutaneous neoplasms

which are pigment-producing cells of neuroectodermal origin found all over the body. A great deal of research is focused on the mechanisms of melanoma to promote better diagnostic and treatment options for melanoma in its advanced stages. The progression of melanoma involves alteration in different levels of gene expression. With the successful implementation of next-generation sequencing technology

an increasing number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) sequences have been discovered

and a significant number of them have phenotypic effects in both

in vitro

and

in vivo

studies

implying that they play an important role in the occurrence and progression of human cancers

particularly melanoma. A number of evidence indicated that lncRNAs are important regulators in tumor cell proliferation

invasion

apoptosis

immune escape

energy metabolism

drug resistance

epigenetic regulation. To better understand the role of lncRNAs in melanoma tumorigenesis

we categorize melanoma-associated lncRNAs according to their cellular functions and associations with gene expression and signaling pathways in this review. Based on the mechanisms of lncRNA

we discuss the possibility of lncRNA-target treatments

and the application of liquid biopsies to detect lncRNAs in melanoma diagnosis and prognosis.