Living in Shade

A very informative article appeared on the Barron’s website this morning entitled “Taking Aim at Skin Cancer”. This article talks about a revolutionary new piece of technology in the fight against skin cancer. Still pending FDA approval, this new device would drastically alter the world of detecting skin cancer.

The device is called MelaFind and is developed by Electro-Optical Sciences out of New Jersey. It is a hand held imaging device that emits 10 different wavelengths of light in order to capture images of suspect pigmented skin lesions. MelaFind can see up to 2.5 millimeters below the skin’s surface, an area it would be impossible for a doctor to see. With this device, skin cancer would be able to be detected much earlier.

MelaFind also hopes to drastically reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies. Right now a patient might notice something unusual and then go see the doctor. The doctor takes a look at it, and if he finds it to be suspect as well he will have to order a biopsy.

With this system, for every 30 or 50 biopsies that a doctor orders, he might find one case of melanoma. This is not only costly, but also means unnecessary stress for the patients. Nobody likes to be cut on. I think that all that unnecessary cutting dissuades people from getting things checked out. They figure, it’ll probably just turn out to be nothing.

Dermatologists hope that if MelaFind is approved it could reduce the numbers to one case of melanoma for every 7 biopsies.

“There will still always be the need for the experience and judgment of the dermatologist,” says Doris Day, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the NYU Langone Medical Center. “But this is a very welcomed and useful additional tool in helping us identify melanomas with greater accuracy.”

This advance is great news for the fight against melanoma. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, only accounting for about 4% of the cases but being responsbile for 79% of the deaths. Every hour somebody dies from melanoma. It is also the fastest growing form of skin cancer. Every year there are over 150,000 new cases of melanoma in the United States alone.

“Skin cancer is approaching epidemic proportions,” asserts Joseph V. Gulfo, EOS’s chief executive. “Early detection is the key to survival. But medical tools to help doctors detect the malignancy have been lacking, at least until now. We believe we have found the answer in MelaFind.”

For these reasons the device is being fast tracked through the FDA approval process. In a study conducted in February of this year, MelaFind was found to be at least 2.5 times more accurate than dermatologists in its ability to accurately rule out the disease. Their hoping for approval by the end of the year or early 2010 at the latest. If approved, MelaFind would be a giant step in the fight against melanoma.