Independent European data on CP-GEP model in Stratifying Melanoma Patients for Long Term Survival
Source: Pr Newswire, April 2024
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SkylineDx is pleased to announce two forthcoming scientific publications at the European Association for Dermato-Oncology congress, April 4-6, 2024. These publications show Merlin test’s (CP-GEP model) ability to identify early-stage cutaneous melanoma patients at high risk for relapse.
The first is a study led by researchers from Denmark, Weitemeyer, et al, that examined over 400 patients who underwent a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) between 2010 and 20151. All the biopsies were defined as negative for metastasis. The CP-GEP model was applied on the prospectively collected, archived tumor specimens and its outcome correlated with the patients’ clinical data for 5 years following diagnosis (for both recurrence free survival and overall survival). The findings indicate that the model effectively stratifies node-negative patients in two groups: patients at low – and high risk for disease progression. In the high-risk group, 17.2% experienced a recurrence of the disease in the 5-year following diagnosis compared to 8% in the low-risk group.
While a nodal assessment by means of the SLNB surgery remains the gold standard for clinical staging of cutaneous melanoma, not all eligible patients might undergo this invasive procedure. Node biopsies in the head and neck location may be challenging due to the regional course of nerves and lymphatic drainage2. The second study, led by Dr. Amaral from University of Tuebingen, Germany, assessed the performance of the CP-GEP model in a group of patients that did not undergo the SLNB procedure. More specifically, she focusses on a subgroup of melanoma patients with a primary tumor in the head and neck region. CP-GEP showed to be able to identify patients with a high risk for recurrence in this independent dataset. The authors concluded that the model demonstrates potential to risk stratify patients with early-stage melanoma3.