CASTLE BIOSCIENCES DEVELOPES MELANOMA TEST THAT PREDICTS METASTATIC RISK

Castle Biosciences is a cancer focused molecular diagnostics company with six laboratory-developed tests clinically available (www.castlebiosciences.com).  They have developed a cutaneous melanoma test (DecisionDX-MELANOMA) which is a proprietary gene expression profile (GEP) assay that accurately predicts metastatic risk and survival from the primary melanoma tumor. In over 600 cutaneous melanoma samples obtained from 13 U.S. centers, the GEP assay has been shown to be superior to, and independent of AJCC stage, Breslow Thickness, Ulceration status, Mitotic Rate, and Sentinel Lymph Node Status.  The test identifies a low risk (Class I: 97% 5 year metastasis free survival) and a high risk group (Class II: 31% 5 year metastasis free survival) with high accuracy, as presented at the 2014 ASCO and AAD meetings.