In addition to these variables, expression levels and copy number variations of a number of relevant genes may be used to support assessment of malignant melanoma prognosis.Stage IV melanoma, in which it has metastasized, is the most deadly skin malignancy: five-year survival is 22.5%. When there is distant metastasis, the cancer is generally considered incurable. The five-year survival rate is less than 10%. The median survival is 6–12 months. Treatment is palliative, focusing on life extension and quality of life. In some cases, patients may live many months or even years with metastatic melanoma (depending on the aggressiveness of the treatment). Metastases to skin and lungs have a better prognosis. Metastases to brain, bone and liver are associated with a worse prognosis. Survival is better with metastasis in which the location of the primary tumor is unknown.There is not enough definitive evidence to adequately stage, and thus give a prognosis for, ocular melanoma and melanoma of soft parts, or mucosal melanoma (e.g., rectal melanoma), although these tend to metastasize more easily. Even though regression may increase survival, when a melanoma has regressed, it is impossible to know its original size and thus the original tumor is often worse than a pathology report might indicate. About 200 genes are prognostic in melanoma, with both unfavorable genes where high expression is correlated to poor survival and favorable genes where high expression is associated with longer survival times.
Lupus erythematosus is a collection of autoimmune diseases in which the human immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks healthy tissues. Symptoms of these diseases can affect many different body systems, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, and lungs. The most common and most severe form is systemic lupus erythematosus. Signs and symptoms
Symptoms vary from person to person, and may come and go. Almost everyone with lupus has joint pain and swelling. Some develop arthritis. Frequently affected joints are the fingers, hands, wrists, and knees. Other common symptoms include:

chest pain during respiration
joint pain (stiffness and swelling)
painless oral ulcer
fatigue
weight loss
headaches
fever with no other cause
Skin lesions that appear worse after sun exposure
general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise)
hair loss
sensitivity to sunlight
a "butterfly" facial rash, seen in about half of people with SLE
swollen lymph nodes

Photosensitivity
Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons especially in visible light. Photosensitivity is a known symptom of lupus, but its relationship to and influence on other aspects of the disease remain to be defined. Causes of photosensitivity may include:

change in autoantibody location
cytotoxicity
induction of apoptosis with autoantigens in apoptotic blebs
upregulation of adhesion molecules and cytokines
induction of nitric oxide synthase expression
ultraviolet-generated antigenic DNA

Genetics
It is typically believed that lupus is influenced by multiple genes. Lupus is usually influenced by gene polymorphisms, 30 of which have now been linked with the disorder. Some of these polymorphisms have been linked very tentatively, however, as the role that they play or the degree to which they influence the disease is unknown.