Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care, today announced new discovery data from an ongoing study exploring the potential for developing a complementary, minimally invasive test to evaluate small, suspicious lesions of uncertain malignant potential in patients’ eyes.
“We are excited about the possibility of developing a new minimally invasive test that would complement our current test offerings for patients with uveal melanoma, including DecisionDx®-UM, and reinforce our dedication to this important patient population,” said Robert Cook, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at Castle Biosciences. “This test would potentially identify aggressive uveal melanomas when they are small and more likely to be cured by prompt therapeutic interventions.”
Bill Harbour, M.D., ophthalmologist, ocular oncologist, and professor and chair of the department of ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is also collaborating with Castle on the study. Harbour is a leading innovator in the treatment and study of uveal melanoma and the original developer of the DecisionDx-UM test, which he licensed to Castle in 2009.
“For small ocular tumors suspected of being an early melanoma, the current standard of care is a ‘watch and wait’ approach using certain clinical characteristics to estimate the risk of malignancy,” said Harbour. “Unfortunately, this approach is highly subjective and can lead to both under- and over-treatment of patients. Through this study, we are looking for aqueous biomarkers that can easily and safely be obtained from the front part of the eye during a quick office procedure that would signal a small tumor may be malignant, which could prompt a definitive tumor biopsy and appropriate intervention.”
Study data is being shared by Amy Schefler, M.D., board-certified ocular oncologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at Retina Consultants of Texas, in an educational presentation this morning at AAO.
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