Blood Test could predict risk In melanoma metastasis

Scientists at Yale University have identified a set of plasma biomarkers that may reasonably reduce the risk of metastasis in patients with melanoma can predict, according to findings published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for cancer research.

"The pace dramatic what melanoma grows, and there is a large number of patients under the supervision," said Harriet Kluger, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. "Our current way of monitoring includes periodic imaging, causing enormous social cost."

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh most common cancer in women. It is estimated that 68,130 people in the United States were diagnosed in 2010, and 8,700 died. With proper screening, melanoma can often be caught early enough to be removed with surgery and mortality usually comes when the cancer metastasizes. The risk of metastasis varies from less than 10 percent for those with stage 1A melanoma, to as high as 70 percent with stage 3 C.

Patients with melanoma usually be subject to a combination of imaging tests, tests of the blood and physical examinations, but there is no clear consensus on how often these tests should be carried out or how reliable they are.

Kluger and colleagues tested the plasma of 216 individuals, including 108 patients with metastatic melanoma and 108 patients with stage 1 or 2. Seven plasma biomarkers have been identified: CEACAM, ICAM-1, osteopontin, MIA, GDF-15, TIMP-1 and S100B.

All of these biomarkers were higher in patients with metastatic melanoma than patients with early stage. In fact, 76 percent of the patients with early stage no elevations at all had whereas 83 per cent of metastatic patients had elevations of at least one marker. Researchers calculated that the area under the curve, a measure of the test of reliability, 0898 was. Area under the curve calculations rate of 0.5 1, with 1.5? optimal and useless.

"This finding should be confirmed prospectively before it is used in the clinic, but it shows that such testing is possible," said Kluger.

Source
American Association for cancer research