First blood test to detect melanoma early

Australian researchers have developed the first blood test to detect melanoma in the early stages, which may allow earlier treatment.

Scientists from Edith Cowan University in Joondalup said the new test could help doctors detect melanoma before it spreads throughout the body. The findings are published in Oncotarget magazine.

Blood-based biomarkers can "revolutionize" the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of melanoma by enabling more frequent tests with higher sensitivity, significantly reducing readings. charge while reducing radiation exposure.

In the trial of 105 melanoma patients and 104 healthy people, this blood test found early melanoma in 79% of cases.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer , with more than 90% of cases being exposed to ultraviolet rays.

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

usually begins with changes in or new moles on the skin, and is detected through imaging and biopsy.

According to a study, Journal of Scandinavian Surgery, if detected early and treated with appropriate surgery, melanoma has an additional 5-year survival rate of about 95% to 99%.

The researchers said: "Despite the advances in diagnostic methods, the screening of melanoma in the large community is still ineffective due to screening for each person who requires a lot of time and doctors. face many difficulties'.

They commented that previous blood tests to detect melanoma have not been successful.'Because blood samples can be easily obtained from patients, many blood-based biomarkers have been proposed in blood tests for melanoma, but there is not enough sensitivity to detect changes. biology at the earliest stage of this type of malignant tumor '.

The new process involves identifying the autoantibodies produced by the human body in response to this cancer.

The researchers tested 1,627 different antibodies and found the combination of the 10 best types showing the presence of melanoma in confirmed patients.

Other types of skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, were not detected in this blood test.

Scientists plan to conduct another clinical trial within three years to confirm these results and improve the accuracy of the test.