Skin Cancer May Now be Diagnosed Through Simple Blood Test

Skin cancer may be diagnosed using a blood test as per a study published in the journal Advanced NanoBiomed Research.

Melanoma is one among the most aggressive skin cancers with high metastatic rate. Early identification/surgical removal of the cancer is critical for higher survival rates.

‘Testing of an individual�s blood has been found to reveal the presence of skin cancer � circulating melanoma cells.’

The study used a melanoma-specific microsystem - melanoma-specific OncoBean platform conjugated with melanoma-specific antibodies to isolate the circulating tumor cells, diagnose melanoma and evaluate the efficacy of surgical resection.

Efficacy of Advanced Test

The test can not only be used to diagnose melanoma but also to evaluate whether all cancer cells have been successfully removed after skin cancer surgery. The advanced test may soon help forego invasive skin biopsies to detect skin cancer.

"This is the first comprehensive study of circulating tumor cells-or CTCs-to evaluate the efficacy of surgery using microfluidic systems in melanoma, including changes in the number of CTCs, CTC cluster configuration, and gene expression profiling," says first author, Yoon-Tae Kang, PhD.

"CTCs have the potential to pinpoint treatment resistance and recurrence, and can be a valuable biomarker to non-invasively monitor for disease progression," says corresponding author Sunitha Nagrath, PhD.

Source: Medindia