A world-first blood test for melanoma could be on the market after a breakthrough by scientists
AUSTRALIAN scientists are working toward bringing a blood test for melanoma to the market in just three years, saving residents around $73 million a year. Here are the details of the breakthrough treatment.
NSW
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A WORLD-FIRST blood test for melanoma could be on the market in just three years after a massive breakthrough by Australian scientists.
The scientists behind the test say it would be especially useful for people with a family history of skin cancer, pale skin or many moles and reduce expensive biopsies costing Australians millions of dollars a year.
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Currently people have to undergo an invasive skin biopsy that can cost up to $500 if a doctor suspects they have a melanoma.
But three out of four biopsies come back negative with these tests costing Australians $73 million a year.
Scientists from Edith Cowan University developed the blood test after pinpointing a combination of 10 antibodies that are present in the blood during early stages of melanoma.
The blood test is able to detect melanoma when it is a little as 1mm thick in the skin.
The research is progressing to a clinical trial after a study involving 105 people with melanoma and 104 healthy people found the blood test accurately detected early stage melanoma about 80 per cent of the time.
The test is now going to be used on over 1000 patients with scientists hoping to secure a commercial partner in three years to put the test in pathology labs across the world.
The university’s Melanoma Research Group head Professor Mel Ziman said patients would need a biopsy and potentially further treatment if their blood test is positive.
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Prof Ziman said at this stage she doesn’t envisage the test being used routinely as a screening tool for everyone without a GP ordering it because a patients has a suspicious skin lesion.
“It would have to be a long time before it would be population wide, (for now) we would just want it to help at the stage of diagnosis (to give) certainty,” she said.
Skin cancer claims 1700 lives in Australia each year and is the biggest cancer killer of people aged 15 — 39.
Lead researcher PhD candidate Pauline Zaenker said identifying melanoma early was the best way to prevent death.
“Patients who have their melanoma detected in its early stage have a five year survival rate between 90 and 99 per cent, whereas if it is not caught early and it spreads around the body, the five year survival rate drops to less than 50 per cent,” she said.
“This is what makes this blood test so exciting as a potential screening tool because it can pick up melanoma in its very early stages when it is still treatable.”
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“While clinicians do a fantastic job with the tools available, relying on biopsies alone can be problematic. We know that three out of four biopsies come back negative for melanoma.”
The results of the study will be published in the Oncotarget journal today.
Julie Hennion, migrated from France to Bondi two years ago, said the Australian sun could be deadly.
“I know the sun here is very strong; everyone knows it’s very strong here. I’d rather do a blood test for sure. It sounds like much better way to test for skin cancer”, she said.