DermTech’s 2-GEP Assay Succeeds at Guiding Biopsy Decision-Making for Ambiguous Skin Lesions of All Skin Phototypes
Source: Dermatology Times, January 2024
The promising results were presented in a poster at the 2024 Winter Clinical Hawaii Dermatology Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.
A recent poster from the 2024 Winter Clinical Hawaii Dermatology Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, held January 12th through the 17th, analyzed the ability of DermTech’s 2-gene expression profiling (GEP) assay to detect the expression of LINC00518 and PRAME as a non-invasive assessment of clinically atypical, pigmented skin lesions to rule out melanoma with a negative predictive value (NPV) of 99%.
The non-invasive 2-GEP assay can help dermatology clinicians determine whether a biopsy is needed when a visual exam cannot rule out melanoma. For melanoma detection, “RNA extracted from skin cells collected with non-invasive adhesive patches is analyzed by RT-qPCR to detect expression of PRAME and LINC00518 RNA, 2 biomarkers that are common in melanomas but uncommon in their benign simulators.” According to Skelsey et al, LINC00518 and PRAME do not differ by skin type or ancestry, and the 2-GEP validation did not exclude any skin types. The authors noted that non-acral cutaneous melanomas in Fitzpatrick skin types IV-VI are rare and the initial 2-GEP validation study included 4 cases of patients with Fitzpatrick skin types IV-VI.