DermTech exhibited PLA against High Risk DNA Mutations

Global leader in non-invasive molecular dermatology, DermTech claimed that the late-breaking abstract, “Validation of Noninvasive Gene Expression (PLA) Against High Risk Driver Mutations (BRAF, NRAS, and TERT) in Cutaneous Melanoma,” was presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in San Diego by Clay Cockerell, MD, of Cockerell Dermatopathology, Dallas.

The late breaking research validated the high performance of the Pigmented Lesion Assay (PLA) against key driver mutations in melanoma. These mutations are found to correlate with histopathologic criteria on prognosis. Ninety-seven percent of the histopathologically confirmed melanoma samples were either PLA positive or mutation positive. Statistically significant differences in mutation frequency were observed between melanoma positive/PLA positive and melanoma negative/PLA negative samples for hotspot mutations.

Real world PLA results exhibited 500 patients witnessed 89% of PLA negative results  while 60% of PLA positive results were mutation positive, demonstrating the PLA positive ascertain high-risk lesions with driver mutations, while PLA negative tests do not harbor these mutations.

John Dobak MD, DermTech’s CEO said “This work further validates the PLA for the non-invasive identification of melanoma risk. In addition, it conforms the high real-world performance of the test and accuracy to rule out melanoma risk in pigmented lesions. This work also provides the foundation for our Nevome product, which will help physicians manage lesions with atypical histopathology findings, improve risk stratification, and provide valuable prognostic information. DermTech’s PLA and Nevome are rapidly becoming the standard for assessment of pigmented lesions.”