Castle Biosciences Announces Publication of Peer-Reviewed Publication Demonstrating the Clinical Impact of DecisionDx®-Melanoma
FRIENDSWOOD, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a skin cancer diagnostics company providing personalized genomic information to improve cancer treatment decisions, today announced the publication of a clinical use study demonstrating that management decisions for patients diagnosed with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th edition stage I – III melanoma were impacted by the use of DecisionDx-Melanoma, Castle’s gene expression profile prognostic test for cutaneous melanoma. Study authors developed a recommended melanoma patient care management pathway that incorporates DecisionDx-Melanoma to help inform frequency and duration of follow-up visits, blood work and surveillance imaging in line with predicted metastatic risk.
The article, titled “Integrating the melanoma 31-gene expression profile test to surgical oncology practice within national guideline and staging recommendations,” was published in Future Oncology.
“We found that intrinsic tumor biology, as assessed with DecisionDx-Melanoma, adds prognostic information that might be missed if we solely consider traditional risk factors to predict metastatic risk for our patients with stage I – III melanoma,” said the article’s first author, surgical oncologist David Hyams, M.D. “Based on these results, we propose a melanoma patient care plan that incorporates DecisionDx-Melanoma to adjust frequency and duration of clinical visits, blood work and surveillance imaging according to metastatic risk. We expect that this plan will empower physicians to focus more intensive surveillance on high-risk patients who need it most.”
The study was conducted to characterize changes in clinical management resulting from use of DecisionDx-Melanoma on low (stage I–IIA) and high-risk (stage IIB–III) patient management and to develop a management pathway for melanoma patient care that incorporates DecisionDx-Melanoma test results. A total of 112 consecutive patients with cutaneous melanoma at Desert Surgical Oncology in California between 2015–2017 were included in this study, all of whom were prospectively tested with DecisionDx-Melanoma.
Patients’ DecisionDx-Melanoma test results were found to have an impact on the number and duration of follow-up and surveillance visits, and patients assessed as having a high risk of metastasis (designated by a DecisionDx-Melanoma Class 2 test result) received more intensive management than patients assessed as having a low risk (designated by a DecisionDx-Melanoma Class 1 test result). Clinicians using the test were shown to adjust patient management in a risk-appropriate direction, within recommendations of national guidelines.
About DecisionDx-Melanoma
DecisionDx®-Melanoma is a gene expression profile test that uses an individual patient’s tumor biology to predict individual risk of cutaneous melanoma metastasis or recurrence, as well as sentinel lymph node positivity, independent of traditional staging factors, and has been studied in more than 5,700 patient samples. Using tissue from the primary melanoma, the test measures the expression of 31 genes. The test has been validated in four archival risk of recurrence studies of 901 patients and six prospective risk of recurrence studies including more than 1,600 patients. Prediction of the likelihood of sentinel lymph node positivity has also been validated in two prospective multicenter studies that included more than 3,000 patients. Impact on patient management plans for one of every two patients tested has been demonstrated in four multicenter and single-center studies including more than 560 patients. The consistent performance and accuracy demonstrated in these studies provides confidence in disease management plans that incorporate DecisionDx-Melanoma test results. Through September 30, 2020, DecisionDx-Melanoma has been ordered more than 64,560 times for use in patients with cutaneous melanoma.
More information about the test and disease can be found at www.SkinMelanoma.com.
About Castle Biosciences
Castle Biosciences (Nasdaq: CSTL) is a commercial-stage dermatologic cancer company focused on providing physicians and their patients with personalized, clinically actionable genomic information to make more accurate treatment decisions. The Company currently offers tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma (DecisionDx®-Melanoma, DecisionDx®-CMSeq), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (DecisionDx®-SCC), suspicious pigmented lesions (DecisionDx® DiffDx™-Melanoma) and uveal melanoma (DecisionDx®-UM, DecisionDx®-PRAME and DecisionDx®-UMSeq). For more information about Castle’s gene expression profile tests, visit www.CastleTestInfo.com. Castle also has active research and development programs for tests in other dermatologic diseases with high clinical need. Castle Biosciences is based in Friendswood, Texas (Houston), and has laboratory operations in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.CastleBiosciences.com.
DecisionDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-CMSeq, DecisionDx-SCC, DecisionDx DiffDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-UM, DecisionDx-PRAME and DecisionDx-UMSeq and are trademarks of Castle Biosciences, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the ability of DecisionDx-Melanoma test results to influence treatment plans and optimize or improve treatment decisions. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and our efforts to address its impact on our business and our ability to maintain compliance with the covenants in our debt facility, the timing and amount of revenue we are able to recognize in a given fiscal period, unexpected delays in planned launch of our pipeline products, the level and availability of reimbursement for our products, our ability to manage our anticipated growth and the risks set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and in our other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are applicable only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.
