CONNTACT.COM

NEW HAVEN — A new prognostic tool to determine the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients has been developed by researchers at Yale Cancer Center. Based on five proteins expressed in melanoma tissue, the technology can classify patients into a low-risk group, with ten-percent chance of recurrence at eight years, or a high-risk group that has a 40-percent probability of recurrence within that time. The study appears in the December 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Twenty to 60 percent of patients with Stage II melanoma will later be diagnosed with metastatic melanoma due to a recurrence of their disease. This new tool will help to identify patients who are at increased risk for recurrence so that they can be more carefully monitored.

“This test has the potential to really help melanoma patients and their clinicians decide how to manage their disease,” explained David L. Rimm, MD, lead author and professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine.

The prognostic tool is based on the Aqua system, a technology developed at Yale School of Medicine by Rimm and Robert L. Camp, MD. Aqua automatically measures and localizes specific variations in protein expression within tissue with a high level of precision. The multi-tissue proteomic analysis system combines fluorescence-based imaging with automated microscopy and high-throughput tissue microarray technologies.

The New Haven bioscience firm HistoRx has an exclusive license for the Aqua system.

< Prev		Next >