Non-Invasive Melanoma Diagnosis Could Be in Our Future

Could the days of biopsies soon be a thing of the past? A group of researchers thinks so.

A team from Kaunas University of Technology and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences have proposed a non-invasive diagnostic method that they found to be 90% accurate in detecting malignancy. This is significantly higher than the 65% accuracy of current melanoma clinical diagnosis.

The method utilizes a patented computer-aided diagnostic system. Using imaging technologies like optical spectrophotometry and ultrasound, skin lesions are analyzed without excision.

"The novelty of our method is that it combines diagnostic information obtained from different non-invasive imaging technologies such as optical spectrophotometry and ultrasound. Based on the results of our research, we can confirm that the developed automated system can complement the non-invasive diagnostic methods currently applied in the medical practice by efficiently differentiating melanoma from a melanocytic mole," says Professor Renaldas Raisutis, head of the team behind the research at Kaunas University of Technology.

This sort of easy, early detection would be a game-changer in the fight again melanoma. The cancer could be identified and treated in its early stages when the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.

Hopefully in the near future, melanoma diagnosis will mean getting in front of a camera rather than going under the knife.