Researchers at US based DermTech International have developed a non-invasive test which utilises special adhesive tape to collect cells from suspicious skin lesions to identify advanced melanomas.
In a study conducted at 18 sties across the US, the test was able to identify localised and invasive melanomas 100% of the time, with a 12% rate of false positives.
The test, which is based on a technique known Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval, uses a custom adhesive tape to non-invasively collect cells from the upper layers of the skin.
The ribonucleic acid (RNA) is then isolated from these cells to identify genes 17 that are specific to melanomas.
Researchers are working to bring down the cost of the test and are planning to conduct more tests before the company seeks FDA approval.