New blood test able to detect skin cancer

AUSTRALIAN researchers said yesterday they have developed a blood test for melanoma in its early stages, calling it a “world first” breakthrough that could save many lives.

The scientists, from Edith Cowan University, said the new test could help doctors detect the skin cancer before it spreads.

“Patients who have their melanoma detected in its early stage have a five-year survival rate between 90 and 99 percent,” lead researcher Pauline Zaenker said in a statement.

She added that survival rates fell to less than 50 percent if the cancer spread in the body.

“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,” Zaenker said.

The research, published in the journal Oncotarget, included a trial involving 105 patients with melanoma and 104 healthy people. The procedure detected early stage melanoma in 79 percent of cases, the scientists said.

Melanoma is currently detected using a visual scan by a doctor, with areas of concern cut out surgically and biopsied.

Zaenker said the new process involved identifying autoantibodies a person’s body produces in response to the cancer.

“We examined a total of 1,627 different antibodies to identify a combination of 10 antibodies that best indicated the presence of melanoma in confirmed patients relative to healthy volunteers,” she said. Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world.