Blood Test Can Predict Disease Recurrence In Patients Who Survived Melanoma, Study Finds

HealthDay (4/16, Thompson) reports a study found that a new blood test that “looks for DNA fragments that are shed by tumors and float free in a person’s bloodstream” can help “predict if melanoma survivors will have a future bout with skin cancer.” The test shows that “about 80% of” patients with later-stage melanoma “who had detectable levels of these DNA fragments before cancer treatment later had their skin cancer recur.” Researchers observed that “skin cancer returned more than four times faster in this group than in” patients with melanoma who have “no detectable DNA fragments.” Furthermore, “the higher their levels, the faster their cancer returned.” Researchers concluded, “Unlike standard, tissue-based analyses of tumor cells, which can only suggest the likelihood of recurrence, circulating tumor DNA tests provide a clear, direct measure of the disease itself and can tell us outright that melanoma has returned.” The study was published in The Lancet Oncology.