Diagnosis and treatment of cancer

A method for facilitating the diagnosis of lung cancer or melanoma in a subject, the method comprising:

• selecting a subject having at least one solid tumor or growth or a nevus;
• measuring the level of SETDB1 in a biological sample obtained from the subject who has at least one solid tumor or growth or a nevus,
• wherein the biological sample is derived from the at least one solid tumor or growth or nevus from the subject wherein the level of SETDB1 is detected at the mRNA level by a PCR procedure or at the protein level by an immunoassay and;
• identifying the likelihood of cancer in the subject by comparing the measured level of SETDB1 to a reference level,
• wherein the reference level is the level of SETDB1 in a subject or group of subjects who are clinically free of cancer and the level of SETDB1 in the cancer-free subject(s) is detected in the same manner as the measured subject, either at the mRNA level by a PCR procedure or at the protein level by an immunoassay;
• and
• determining whether the subject has cancer and therefore requiring cancer treatment or whether the subject has a benign growth based upon the comparison wherein an increase of at least 10% in the SETDB1 level in the biological sample compared to the reference level is indicative of cancer in the subject.