Who is the ideal patient for the 40-GEP test?
Clinical Professor of Dermatology
Director, Melanoma Surveillance Clinic
Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY
Adjunct Professor, UT Southwestern Medical School
Consultant Dermatologist, Cooper Clinic, Dallas, TX
The ideal patient to use this test on is one who has a more advanced tumor. The idea behind this, you're trying to identify those at highest risk for metastatic disease. If you have a class 2B result, which is the highest risk, your risk of metastatic disease is on the order of 50 to 60%. So therefore, you want somebody who already has an advanced tumor to some extent, who has other risk factors for this. It's not for somebody who has a squamous cell in situ or very early squamous cell, because the data was not collected on those people. It's for somebody for more advanced disease to really do the testing on.
Summary
Dr. Darrell Rigel explains in the video that the ideal patient for the 40-GEP test is someone who has a more advanced tumor. The main objective of this test is to identify individuals at the highest risk for metastatic disease. A class 2B result from the test indicates the highest risk, with a likelihood of 50 to 60% for metastatic disease. Therefore, the test is most appropriate for patients who already have an advanced tumor and have other risk factors associated with it. The test was not specifically designed for individuals with early-stage squamous cell carcinoma or squamous cell in situ, as the data was not collected for such cases. In summary, the 40-GEP test is recommended for patients with more advanced disease and additional risk factors for metastatic progression.
Key Points
- The 40-GEP test is designed for patients with a more advanced tumor.
- The purpose of the test is to identify those at the highest risk for metastatic disease.
- A class 2B result from the 40-GEP test indicates the highest risk, with a 50 to 60% chance of metastatic disease.
- The ideal patient for the test is someone who already has an advanced tumor to some extent and has other risk factors for metastasis.
- The test is not suitable for individuals with squamous cell in situ or very early squamous cell cancer, as the data for the test was not collected for such cases.
- The focus of the 40-GEP test is on patients with more advanced disease to provide meaningful results.