The present invention refers to a method and kit for stratification of melanoma patients by determining the OCR and levels of PPARGC1A, PPARGC1B and MITF RNA, derived cDNA, or corresponding protein. Especially, the invention is related to stratification kits to determine whether a patient with melanoma will respond to treatment with a BET inhibitor. In a further aspect, the invention is related to the use of a BET inhibitor for the treatment of melanoma in a patient by stratifying a sample of body fluid or tumor tissue in vitro and determining whether a patient suffering from melanoma will respond to treatment with a BET inhibitor.