Genomic Atypia of Lesions Clinically Suspicious for Melanoma Is Confined to Lesional Tissue Within Narrow Margins

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Approximately 200,000 people are diagnosed with in situ and invasive melanoma, the most aggressive sub-set, each year accounting for approximately 7,000 deaths. Distinguishing early-stage melanoma from atypical nevi remains a challenge for many dermatologists; however, technological advances have increased the probability of successful diagnosis and opportunity for early intervention.¹ The Pigmented Lesion Assay (PLA) is a non-invasive genomic test for the earliest melanoma detection that uses adhesive patches to collect skin samples from lesions clinically suspicious for melanoma. Post sample collection, demarcated adhesive patches are macro-dissected robotically utilizing a CO₂ laser to separate portions of the patches that sampled lesional tissue from non-lesional tissue with an approximate 1mm margin (Figure 1). Total RNA is isolated from the lesional tissue and