In patients with advanced melanoma, cancer eventually returns even after all the appropriate treatment. Currently, there aren’t any diagnostic tests available which will predict the relapse of melanoma. A recent blood test may be useful in detecting this possibility. The findings were published in the Annals of Oncology, could help in identifying patients with higher risk of recurrence.
Researchers analyzed blood samples taken post-surgery from 161 patients with stage 2 and 3 melanomas. They then screened for defects in the two genes, BRAF and NRAS, which are associated with 70% of melanoma skin cancers. At the end of five years, 33% of patients who had a positive blood test for defects in either of the two genes were alive, compared to 65% of those who did not. The study also revealed that the risk of relapse of skin cancer was more likely within a year of surgery in patients who had…
