The development of clinically frank malignant melanomas in humans is thought to evolve over decades in a stepwise process of progression. By analogy with certain other adult cancers, eg, colorectal carcinomas, alterations in expression or function of a number of different suppressor genes might be expected to be involved in this process. This could lead to loss of expression of a number of different negative growth controls. Evidence is reviewed implicating the presence of putative suppressor genes for the melanocytic lineage located on chromosomes 9p21, 6q, and 1p. In addition, there is evidence suggesting a contribution for the p53 and NF1 tumor-suppressor genes, and the nm23 metastasis-suppressor gene, in melanoma development or progression. Additional possible suppressor genes include those encoding manganese superoxide dismutase, and possibly c-kit. An accumulation of such alterations may be responsible for the progressive loss of responsiveness to several independent growth inhibitors for melanocytes or early stage melanomas, including interleukin-6, transforming growth factor-beta, and oncostatin M. They may also be responsible for some aspects of the production of direct acting autocrine growth factors or production of angiogenesis stimulating factors, or both, by melanoma cells. The acquisition of resistance to several growth inhibitors and the multiplicity of putative suppressor gene alterations (combined with the production of multiple autocrine and paracrine growth factors) may be necessary for the evolution of nondividing single melanocytes resident in the epidermis into highly proliferative and metastatic melanomas capable of growing multicellularly in ectopic organ sites.