Quest Diagnostics announced the launch of MelaNodal Predict?, a highly advanced predictive gene expression test to help personalize treatment decisions for patients with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and one of the most common cancers in the United States.1 Dermatologists and other providers nationwide may begin ordering the test from Quest Diagnostics, as well as through Dermpath Diagnostics, Quest's subspecialty pathology business. MelaNodal Predict is a lab-developed test validated by Quest Diagnostics and based on technology developed by SkylineDx, an oncology biotechnology company, alongside Mayo Clinic. The technology utilizes a combination analysis of patient age and tumor thickness with advanced gene expression profiling technology.

MelaNodal Predict examines a patient's original diagnostic tumor biopsy and applies an algorithm to help providers identify patients with a low or high risk of nodal metastasis (melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes). This insight may help providers identify patients that could, with less risk, avoid a potentially unnecessary, expensive and invasive surgery called a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). If the algorithm classifies a patient as low risk, they may be able to choose to forgo the procedure.

More than 8 in 10 patients who have an SLNB are negative for nodal metastasis, based on post-surgical analysis. By reducing SLNB interventions, providers who utilize the test may be able to more effectively use healthcare resources and manage patient risk. It is estimated that patients who receive an SLNB have a greater than 10% risk of surgery-related complications including bleeding, infection and limb swelling.

The test also provides insights on a patient's long-term outcome, as patients with a low-risk result have reported better survival rates. All studies of the algorithm utilized have reported minimal follow up after five years, and recent data from 6 US institutions shows that patients the algorithm classified as low risk have a survival rate of more than 90%. This collaboration aims to combine SkylineDx's innovative technology with Quest's expertise and national scale in the United States, which includes broad electronic health record connectivity and health plan relationships and over 400 Quest, Dermpath, AmeriPath, and PhenoPath pathologists.

A leader in advanced oncology diagnostics, Quest specializes in testing for inherited genetic disorders and tumor sequencing for colorectal and other cancers. The pathology businesses of Quest Diagnostics deliver subspecialty expertise for health systems and other providers in the United States and overseas.