Cancer diseases are one of the biggest health threats of the last two decades. Approximately 9% of all diagnosed cancers are skin cancers, including melanoma and non-melanoma. As in all cancer cases, early diagnosis is essential to achieve efficient treatment. New solutions and advanced techniques for rapid diagnosis are constantly being sought. Aptamers are single-stranded RNA or DNA synthetic sequences or peptides, which offer novel possibilities to this area of research by specifically binding selected molecules, the so-called cancer biomarkers. Nowadays, they are widely used as diagnostic probes in imaging as well as in targeted therapy. In this review, we have summarized the recently made advances in diagnostics and therapy of skin cancers, which have been achieved by combining aptamers with basic or modern technologies.

Mitochondria are the main energy factory in living cells. To rapidly proliferate and metastasize, neoplastic cells increase their energy requirements. Thus, mitochondria become one of the most important organelles for them. Indeed, much research shows the interplay between cancer chemoresistance and altered mitochondrial function. In this review we focus on the differences in energy metabolism between cancer and normal cells, to better understand their resistance and how to develop drugs targeting energy metabolism and nucleotide synthesis. One of the differences between cancer and normal cells is the higher nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) level, a cofactor for the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), which enhances their proliferation and helps cancer cells survive under hypoxic conditions. An important change is a metabolic switch, called the Warburg effect. This effect is based on the change of energy harvesting from oxygen-dependent transformation to oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), adapt them to the tumor environment. Another mechanism is the high expression of one carbon (1C) metabolism enzymes. Again, this allows cancer cells to increase proliferation by producing precursors for the synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids. We reviewed drugs in clinical practice and in development targeting NAD+, OXPHOS, and 1C metabolism. Combinations of novel drugs with conventional antineoplastic agents may prove to be a promising new way of anticancer treatment.