Myriad Genetics ($MYGN) said results from a study of its myPath Melanoma test showed a 43% reduction in indeterminate diagnoses of skin cancer and nearly a 50% change by doctors in their treatment recommendations for patients.
The diagnostic is a genetic test that differentiates malignant melanoma from benign skin lesions across all major melanoma subtypes, the company said in a press release. The study looked at how dermapathologists recorded their diagnoses and treatment plans for patients both before and after they received results from the myPath Melanoma tests.
Overall, the company said, changes in treatment recommendations were seen in 49.1% of "difficult-to-diagnose" cases. In 39.4% of patients who got a benign test result, the physicians downgraded their recommendations to less invasive treatments. For 45.8% of those patients who received a malignant test result, the doctors upgraded to more invasive treatments.
"These findings demonstrate the power of Myriad myPath Melanoma to improve patient care through more definitive diagnoses of skin lesions, particularly in these difficult-to-call cases," Dr. Loren Clarke, a Myriad vice president, said in a statement. "Importantly, the number of indeterminate cases was significantly reduced, which means less uncertainty for more patients and physicians, and may lead to less overtreatment in these cases."
The release of the study comes on the heels of Myriad announcing an expanded deal to use its Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx as a companion diagnostic with AbbVie's ($ABBV) veliparib in helping detect breast cancer.
- see the release (PDF)