Adhesive tape replaces a skin biopsy in new, noninvasive test for melanoma

medcitynews.com, 21 August 2013 – If a doctor suspects a mole or skin spot might be cancerous, she would usually give the patient a local anesthetic, cut out or shave off a sample of the skin and send it to a lab for testing. With a new test being developed by biotechnology company DermTech, that sample could be taken without an anesthetic or a procedure that leaves a scar. DermTech’s test uses an adhesive tape to collect cells from the suspected skin’s surface. When the sample is sent to DermTech’s labs, technicians extract RNA and analyze it for 17 expressions that indicate the presence of melanoma, with results delivered in about three days. Read more