They discover an analysis to detect melanoma in its initial phase

A group of Australian researchers announced Wednesday a new blood test to detect melanoma at its initial stage, a "world first" that could save many lives.

The scan could help doctors detect melanoma, a very aggressive skin cancer, before it spreads to the rest of the body, said scientists at Edith University Cowan, whose work was published in the journal Oncotarget

. The study involved 105 melanoma patients and 104 healthy people.

The experimental procedure allowed early diagnosis of melanoma in 79% of cases, according to the authors of the research.

"This blood test is very promising as a potential detector because it allows to identify melanoma in its initial phase, when it is still treatable," said Pauline Zaenker, researcher in a statement.

"Patients whose melanoma is detected at an early stage have a five-year survival rate of between 90% and 99%," Zaenker said.

Otherwise, the survival rate is only 50%.

Currently, melanoma is detected by a clinical examination by a doctor who, in case of suspicious lesion, carries out an extraction to perform a biopsy.

"We examined a total of 1627 different types of antibodies to identify a combination of ten antibodies, most likely to report the presence of melanoma in confirmed patients compared to healthy volunteers," says Zaenker.

The research team is preparing a clinical work that will last three years to validate the findings and to have a test that can be used by physicians. One in three cancers is skin cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Australia is the country with one of the highest prevalence of melanoma in the world. (AFP-NA)