DermTech Launches Early Melanoma Test via Skininc

DermTech, Inc. has announced the launch of DermTech PLAplus, a test for the enhanced early detection of melanoma.

By combining RNA gene expression and DNA mutation analyses, PLAplus provides a non-invasive genomic test for enhanced early melanoma detection using an adhesive patch.

The new PLAplus test adds TERT (Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase) promoter DNA driver mutation analyses to the current RNA gene expression based Pigmented Lesion Assay (PLA), which includes LINC00518 and PRAME. TERT is individually associated with histopathologic features of aggressiveness and poor survival in melanoma. The combined tests (LINC00518 and PRAME, plus TERT) elevate the sensitivity from 91%1 to 97% and maintain a negative predictive value of >99%, resulting in a less than 1% probability of missing melanoma 2,3.