Method for Detection of Melanoma
AssigneeDermTech International
InventorThomas Vogt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides non-invasive methods for detecting, monitoring, staging, and diagnosing malignant melanoma in a skin sample of a subject. The methods include analyzing expression in skin sample of one or more melanoma skin markers. The melanoma skin markers include IL-1 RI, endothelin-2, ephrin-A5, IGF Binding Protein 7, HLA-A0202 heavy chain, Activin A (βA subunit), TNF RII, SPC4, and CNTF Rα. The skin sample can include nucleic acids, and can be a human skin sample from a lesion suspected of being melanoma.
Claims25
A non-invasive method for detecting early stage melanoma in a skin sample of a human subject, comprising:
- (a) obtaining a skin sample by applying at least one application of an adhesive to the skin of a human subject and removing the adhesive from the skin to remove a skin sample comprising RNA;
- and
- (b) detecting the level of RNA in the skin sample, wherein an increase in endothelin-2 RNA level, as compared to the RNA level in a control sample, is indicative of early stage melanoma, thereby detecting early stage melanoma in the skin sample.
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14-18. (canceled)
A non-invasive method for monitoring the presence of melanoma in a skin sample from a human subject, comprising:
- (a) obtaining a first skin sample at a first time point by applying at least one application of an adhesive to the skin of a human subject and removing the adhesive from the skin to remove a skin sample comprising RNA;
- (b) detecting RNA levels in the first skin sample of the marker endothelin-2;
- (c) obtaining a second skin sample at a second time point by applying at least one application of an adhesive to the skin of said human subject and removing the adhesive from the skin to remove a skin sample comprising RNA,
- (d) detecting RNA levels in the second skin sample of the marker endothelin-2;
- and
- (e) comparing the RNA level of endothelin-2 at the first time point to the RNA level of endothelin-2 at the second time point to thereby monitor the presence of melanoma in the human subject, wherein an increase in the level of endothelin-2 RNA, as compared to the RNA level in a control sample, is indicative of early stage melanoma.
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22-24. (canceled)
A non-invasive method for staging malignant melanoma in a skin sample of a human subject, comprising:
- a) obtaining a skin sample by applying an adhesive surface to the skin of a human subject and removing the adhesive surface from the skin such that a skin sample comprising RNA in an amount sufficient for subsequent detection adheres to the adhesive surface after its removal;
- and
- b) detecting the level of endothelin-2 RNA in the skin sample, wherein an increase in the level of endothelin-2 RNA, as compared to the RNA level in a control sample, is indicative of early stage melanoma.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.